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Caption: This is my grandmother at my medical school graduation. She never completed high school (she got sick 3 months prior to graduation and her mother thought that t… more This is my grandmother at my medical school graduation. She never completed high school (she got sick 3 months prior to graduation and her mother thought that the diploma was pointless for her to have as a woman in 1945). She had an arranged marriage to my grandfather and birthed 3 daughters, which was a bit a disappointment to him, I’m sure. But, despite my grandmother’s lack of education, she raised her daughters to value it above all else. My mom and her 2 younger sisters all went on to win prestigious National Merit Scholarships, full ride college scholarship handed out to very few individuals in the entire state of Tamil Nadu. Both my mom and her middle sister became physicians, while my youngest aunt became a chemist. She lead a hard life and as her only granddaughter, she was my everything. She doted on me like no other and helped raise me and my brother when my mom was in residency and working. I think often about her legacy. She had 5 grandkids. My younger brother has a PhD from Harvard in Chemical Biology. Another grandson is a dual MD/JD (Duke/Columbia), another a lawyer and entrepreneur, owning several restaurants and bars in NYC and Austin, and my youngest cousin, has an MBA, and is an extremely successful businessman in Zurich. When she was young and unable to graduate, I wonder if she realized the legacy she would create 80 years in the future? That her emphasis on education and its importance would traverse the generations? But I wonder what she could have accomplished had she be given the opportunity. This is what International Women’s Day means to me. Let’s make it so all girls in the world have this chance. Support the girls in your life. Offer mentorship. Engage in conversation and consider donating to Who is the woman in your life—past or present—whose resilience paved the way for your own? Let’s celebrate her legacy together. less
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