Honouring The Women in My Life

It’s international Women’s day. A post like this is overdue, and it’s a shame I only wrote this today.

Family

For those that know a little about me, you might know that I came to Canada from Yemen as a refugee in 2015 - I’ll post about this at some point, when I’m comfortable sharing my emotions about it. What you may not know however, is how my mom was able to single-handedly get me out of Yemen, get me into Canada, and give me a life I never would have imagined I would get. Mom, your bravery saved my life, I owe you everything. You are truly my role model.

To my other role model, my sister! You inspire me. You faced adversity growing up in Yemen, you were able to overcome many challenges. You got involved in peacemaking and made a genuine impact, you made it to Oxford and showed them who’s boss, you started your own company, and you are still continuously creating an image of a role model for all! You are showing the world what women are capable of!

Friends

Growing up in a very religious country, having female friends that were not family was taboo. To all the Yemeni women out there, you rock. It breaks my heart that you are not given the opportunities that you deserve, and I will always fight for your rights.

To my female friends in Canada, you taught me so much. I was ignorant of the biases and discrimination that women go through. You taught me how to be an advocate for equality, and I will always try my best to become one.

University

I had a unique experience in University when it came to female role-models. Out of the 13 Computer Science classes I took, 7 were taught by women. This is not a representative of the current female representation in technology, or in the Computer Science faculty, but I can say that I am incredibly lucky to have been taught by those amazing women! I was lucky to be taught by my overall role-model in tech, Dr. Margo Seltzer! Thank you to all the amazing female professors I’ve had, you demonstrated the incredible impact women in tech have, and taught me that we need more and more women in the industry!

Commitment

There are far too many women I admire than I can fit in a blog post. To all the women out there, you are awesome.

I recognize that simply writing a post does not help support all the amazing women out there, so my personal commitment is that I will challenge my biases, educate myself on women’s rights, and fight for equal representation.