PRELUDE

After being assigned to archive one of the main forums of my intellectual journey, I struggled to identify where exactly I gained the knowledge that has crafted my current persona. After days of internal reflection, I recognized that it was not one experience or person but rather certain words that stamped an image of the woman I want to be within my mind. Those moments have stuck with me and implicitly dictate the decisions I make as I follow my natural mental evolution. In my knowledge-gaining archive, I crafted 5 volumes that represent chronological key interactions that have molded a myriad of my rudimentary values.

In Volume 1, I talk about Melanie, my childhood nanny, and the profound impact of her fundamental rules of, ‘being a good person’. I associate these with our car rides listening to Smooth Jazz and Gwen Stefani records.

In Volume 2, I documented my experience with my grandmother several years later when I began to explore the idea of fear. I spoke ad nauseum with my grandmother as we prepared and shared meals. Today, making her favorite home dishes transport me back to first hearing about her bravery during WW2 and feeling overwhelmed by her relentless compassion.

For volume 3, I created a second playlist to demonstrate the importance of hard work instilled by my dance teacher. She emphasized that an individual will never regret persevering through a situation. This idea of tenacity has enabled me to claim both my intellectual and mental journeys.

For my fourth post, Volume 4, I discussed a key event with a male individual. I archived my poem, How Much, and explored my jarring reaction after feeling invalidated and disrespected. This monumental event marks the first time I took active charge of claiming my equality. I understood the need to recognize not only other people’s perception of who I am, but also claim my unique identity.

In volume 5, I discuss how Zineb, my moroccan host sister, humbled my perspective and promoted me to re-evaluate how I experience education and opportunity. Through my archive, I recognized it was not only the tangible traits Zineb exhibits but also her implicit kindness and respect for all people. Zineb’s pure charismatic, positive character serves as a model I aspire to emulate in my everyday life.

Interpersonal interactions have an enormous effect on me because I remember not only snip-its of content but also the inflection and tone with which they were delivered. These messages resonate within my mind as I absorb or reject relevant messages.

Through archiving my intellectual journey, I have recognized that I am fundamentally curious to understand my place in society. As an innately strong-willed individual, I often reject marginalization via pre-existing evaluations of how I should act or the role I should fill. Instead, I levy the conversations and interactions I have been a member of to dictate the persona I wish to emulate.

I am drawn towards positive female role models because of our rudimentary relatability. Through recounting conversations with women I value and respect, I have recognized they play a key role in my life by directly influencing one of my fundamental moral values. As the archive progresses, I explore more complex values in increasingly uncomfortable situations.

In my role as female, it is both my responsibility and society’s to foster a symbiotic relationship. I must be a good person and a good citizen. However, I also deserve equal respect that men are automatically granted. In this interpersonal study, I further actualized feminism as I claimed my role not as a woman, but as an equal individual in our modern world.