Don't Forget Your Roots

I've found myself apologizing a lot for the name of an organization I am very heavily involved with, Girl Develop It. I am the chapter leader/founder of the Burlington, Vermont chapter of this 501c3 non-profit which has over 36 chapters across the US and Canada. We help tip the scales in the male heavy tech industry by teaching women how to code. People ask me why this organization has Girl in the name, in spit of the fact that we teach adults. I've given excuses, commiserated in my understanding that society infantilizes women and speculated that the name came from a tongue in cheek idea, maybe an inside joke or a cheeky/attention catching name. In truth, I don't know where the name really came from and it doesn't actually matter to me.

When I was a teen I hated my body, my face, and other women. Being a girl meant being afraid, being weak, and acting dumb to keep attention off yourself so that you can fly under the radar. Then I found a movement called Riot Grrrl. In this movement, I found role models, women who sang, made art, taught each other, and spoke about loving yourself and your friends, in spite of the competition and desperation that society compels you to feel. Riot Grrrl changed my life, in fact it may have saved my life.

I want to be part of a society that changes the connotation of the word Girl. I want to help blaze a trail for other women to feel empowered and shine. I want to help them find camaraderie with each other and mentor each other. By helping to build a world where Girl means Power we can show women, and in turn young girls, that they can be who they want to be.

Girl Develop It has changed me. We are also changing the world. So you know what... I'm proud of our name. And I'm proud to be a girl/woman/revolutionary.

2013 in Review: Our Little Baby's All Grows Up

2013 FTW!

It serves us to celebrate both small and large accomplishments, not unlike the earth completing one full rotation around the sun without ramming full speed into a giant asteroid and exploding into a billion shining space particles. In the time it takes for the earth to orbit the sun, your life can change a lot. This year I changed quite a bit. For the first time I experienced what it meant to build a life far away from my childhood home, family, and longtime friends. I made all new friends and stayed in touch with the old ones too. Working in the tech industry for the first time, I talked daily with my clients about stuff that actually interests me. I decided it was imperative for me to continue learning how to code, and help other women do this too, so I started a chapter of Girl Develop It in my new city. In the process of starting the Burlington chapter of GDI, I met and made strong relationships with business owners, government officials, world renowned software engineers, community leaders, and so many other brilliant and amazing people. With the aid and encouragement of these people, I built a community of over 350 members who teach and encourage each other, are thirsty to learn new things, and inspire me anew on a regular basis. If you had told me 5 years ago that this would be where I am and what I would be doing, I would have called you a liar. I feel like what I'm doing and where I am is exactly where I am supposed to be.

Stepping back to this present moment, as I type this I'm smelling the sweet smell of veggies roasting in the oven. I'm making my Dad's Butternut Squash soup for a good friend who just last week found out that he has a rare form of bone cancer and started radiation yesterday. In making this recipe, I am reminded that my Dad needs a new kidney. Life is never all peaches and cream but it is new years day and before we know it the trees will grow back their leaves, the snow will melt, and the year will bring new opportunities for growth and change. Optimism and faith that what will come in the next year will bring us to new heights we never imagined, life will challenge and delight us, and so I just have to keep moving forward. Life is precious. Happy new year.