Growing up, I found myself surrounded by two types of people: those who encouraged me to break the boundaries and those who told me I could not. I followed my passion into the STEM field. While studying and in school, I found myself surrounded by people who were like me. Many of them were strong and passionate women ready to take on a career in a male dominated field. …Read More >
The InStepp Blog: Our Perspective
Visit the InStepp Blog often to get our perspective on issues and local events. Our bloggers continually scan the internet looking for news, ideas and other information of potential interest to our readers.
Women vs the Medical Field
As a woman, there are a lot of times where medical professionals talk down your concerns. When I was 16 years old, and I told the doctor about the severe pain I was having in my stomach, I was told there was nothing wrong with me. After two years of the pain, a doctor told me I might have endometriosis, and there was nothing he could do for that. I believed him. After all, …Read More >
Weeding Out My Worries
Last month I started to feel a lump in my throat and immediately worry consumed my mind. I kept my concern to myself for a few days and the lump never seemed to go away. Then I made a mistake in reading my symptoms online which frightened me so much that I started having panic attacks and depression. Eventually I lost sleep and was down to only 100 lbs. I needed some …Read More >
The Gender Divide
Why is the world divided into genders? Who decided that dresses were for women and pants were for men? When most people think about gender, they think of certain ways that each gender is supposed to express themselves. It is becoming more normal for those lines to blur which is great but that is mainly in the bigger cities. In my small town, it is still seen as abnormal, …Read More >
The Power of Words
Warning: There is adult and discriminative language that is used in this article. Words are not inherently evil or good. They give us a way to communicate with each other. They let us express and learn about each other. They also divide us. Words matter. As a woman, I have struggled with words and labels used against my fellow sisters and me. For example, bitch, slut, …Read More >
The Day I Found Something I Didn’t Realize I Lost
“Wait! I don’t have my cell phone!” I said in a panic as we stood by the elevator of the parking garage. My friends and I were about to head home when I reached into my coat pocket and realized my phone was not there. We just finished walking in The Women’s March for the second year in a row. We were cold, tired and hungry. The last thing needed was an unwelcome …Read More >