Léa T.
The Invisible Chronicles
All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to any event or any real person, living or dead, is just a mere coincidence.
Here is my secret:
It is very simple:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye. -The Little Prince
These chronicles take place in a dystopian society and talk about girls in technology & science who have been overlooked because of their background and their values. These girls have not spoken their mind out of the fear of being judged and reprimanded.
|Introductory Chronicle: What is PIA
Every society excludes certain members actively or thoughtlessly. Societies that exclude actively believe that marginalization of a certain group is necessary and for the good of the people. By contrast, cultures that claim to exclude unintentionally are veiled behind the definition of ‘moral exclusion’ and even argue that it is not their fault if a certain group of people do not feel integrated. However, it is not irrational to say that a lack of social interaction contributes to the feeling of dehumanization.
Here at the Progressive Institute for Advancement, scholars either walk with arrogance or with a doubt that they may not graduate with satisfaction. PIA serves underrepresented scholars as well as the presumptuous ones that come from families who have tradition and legacy for academia.These scholars are expected to raise the standard of technology and science education. Meritocracy is highly valued. Scholars, who are taken under the wing of authority within the institute’s administration, are seen as merit scholars. Their parents believe they are elite that can represent the image of the foundation. The professors believe they are their protegés. And the other scholars believe they are a joke.
The other scholars are those who have potential just like their “prestigious” peers. But were not opportunistic towards the doors that were open to them. They are young, like the rest of their classmates, and similarly naive. Some of them remain invisible and are considered useless and unmotivated. Others understand that PIA will not lead them to their future and believe that their work is used to market the image of progressivism. Some believe that there is something wrong with them. They have greatly wronged the foundation. They do not understand why they cannot function like others, despite rising up to their challenges.
While many believe that intelligence is the key to success, the self-doubting scholars discover that character is above all other marks of academic achievement. This is not the same with the highbrow scholars who strongly believe in their academic reputation, which commonly crushes their social skills.
But it doesn’t matter if these savvy and studious scholars are focused on their devices and if they ignore their surroundings. It doesn’t matter if they believe they are the best and if they rely on authority. It doesn’t matter if they want prestige and elitism just as badly as Pavlov’s dogs who cannot help but salivate at their desire. These erudite scholars do good for science.
|F-633-563 Chronicle: Privilege
It was just a day after F-633-563 had sent the Impulse that showed her frustration with her treatment at the institute when the dean called the scholar into the bureau. “F-633-563, I’d like to talk to you” he said as he looked down at his black shoes and took long quick strides into the office.
“You must know by now why you’re here,” he stated as he sat down in the executive chair and looked up with deep dark brown eyes. Today, he did not look like a noble leader. Instead, there was something about his tone of voice that made it as if the Impulse became bigger than what it had intended to be. The lights were bright and one had to focus their vision to find his inky pupil centered in the tenebrous stare of the man.
“Yes,” the female responded matter-of-factly. She could not anticipate his next step of action but understood that it was his moment for inquisition. Don’t self-incriminate, she told herself.
“The Impulse you sent was very poignant and left me in a state of gloom throughout my whole break from school these past few days. It truly did affect me and, as you know, I care deeply about the situation of my scholars in my institute,” he began. “I want to know if there was any moment when we interacted together where I had previously associated you with being a ‘duchess’ or of royalty.”
“No,” F-633-563 responded.
“So just in that particular situation that you had described in your Impulse--you felt that I was targeting you on the basis of your echelon?” he clarified. It was no longer a question, but rather a clarification in which he had worded like a jurist so he could detect loopholes in her impending argument.
“Yes. And I believe it was out of place for you to have distinguished me in front of my peers as part of a top echelon in our society. I have already had remarks from my peers as being the “royal female”. I have certainly used my hands before in my life, as explained in the Impulse. The royal term that you have brought upon me implied a certain spoiled economic status that my peers sneered at when you declared that I never soiled my hands in my life before,” she fervently stated but with calculated words so that her passion in her stomach did not rage from her mouth like a fire-breathing chimera. But despite her draconian emotions she displayed her full serenity and attentiveness. Her eloquence did not change the man's point of view, however.
“Just so you know, cleaning catheters and petri dishes at the Immuno Laboratory in your example, is not really using your hands… At least in the universal common sense of putting your hands at some sort of work. It’s alright. This is no judgement whatsoever. This could be a generational thing, and I recognize that” he retorted.
He smirked to himself as he put the tip of his fingers together and laid the pointes of his elbows on his desk.
“I’d like to give you advice that I think will benefit you in the future,” he continued, “You should not be insecure about the label that you think people bring on you. These thoughts make you insecure and so you believe that you are categorized into a sort of ‘branding’ per se. Let me tell you something, people are born with privileges. Educational privilege--hence you see the erudites today with technology. I had educational privilege due to my father who was quite an intellectual when it came to his subject matter. There is white privilege--of course, you have studied that in your social science classes. Females have privilege. It’s true. Females are able to pass men on a many of number of things because of their gender. But there is male privilege too. Why do you think I recruit so heavily to have an equal balance between M’s and F’s? You happen to be female. Or else nobody would have denoted you as F-633-563. This will come to your advantage and disadvantage. Now in this particular situation for you, there is also something called economic privilege. You have it. I didn’t growing up. When you complete, you might find yourself next to another scholar who has perhaps worked much more than you in terms of a social lifestyle to get to the same place as you. You will have to learn to deal with this and understand that other humans are lower than you economically. I’m not saying you should flaunt such a privilege, but you should definitely be proud and confident about it. Therefore, you should not be bringing on your own insecurities on topics such as class. What I said made you feel uncomfortable and that is because you were expecting that connotation within what I said.”
It was as if every human was born into the echelons that society had imagined within all of dystopian literature, she thought. We don’t live in a dystopia, do we? She could not believe the “truth” he was trying to convey to her unsuspecting and innocent mind. Yes, perhaps there are privileges. Yes, it’s true. We are divided because of these privileges. Was this why there’s such a big movement to build androids? It was a sign of intelligence, elitism and as marketed in the media everyday “progressivism.” It was like a brainwash and it worked. She wasn’t sure what was truth or not. But she could tell he was trying to bring her on the other side of the point, to drop her contentions and agree with his. Why must they always argue that I was overreacting? Does he have a degree in reverse psychology?
“I really believe that my guardians’ success is their very own and that I will have to build my success by myself. My guardians made sure that I would not hope for a handout, I must make way like all others. I didn’t choose to live off their success. I don’t think it was fair for you to distinguish me from the other scholars like that. I come here to learn first, not to be distinguished as the one percent,” the female stated. The discussion was unusually friendly and she was glad he was silent as she talked and that she was not interrupted. There wasn’t any worry to sound naive in front of the omniscient adult who claimed repetitively and passionately that he understood the workforce and how one can create their demise in that realm of cutthroat competition. He always claimed about being successful.
He was so right yet so wrong. Why did he focus so much on privilege? What did he miss in his life to be so bitter? Is truth bitter?
After a long-drawn conversation that wasted her thirty minutes of program time, she walked out of the bureau with a stride. As if she was strutting down a runway, not because she had missed class, but because she had not taken his advice-- a first in all of her four years. But she would always keep in mind the privilege talk and laugh at it later. She will soon understand that not all help is the same. It may guide you or it may hurt you. She did not want to become deluded like him. She did not want to be stuck in his fake reality.
|Fs and Ms Chronicle: Females and Males
At PIA, the females are either introverted or extroverted. Introverts are considered loyal while extroverts are considered less worthy to complete a task.
Males are always reliable to follow protocol and execute a task.
Extroverted females become introverts when they realize that they are “too female” at PIA. They must defeminize themselves to feel like they can belong with the rest of the scholars who furiously compete to build the most beautiful android at the institute.
|PIA Chronicle: In the halls of PIA
School spirit is rarely found at PIA, unless there is an entourage of reporters or prospective students visiting the adorned rooms of the institute. Here, professors fear a loss of their jobs if they do not meet futuristic standards. Some are cantankerous, while others are caring and understand that personality can compensate for their lack of stringent teaching. Nevertheless, they are effective in handling their curriculum.
But when they must hand-off a task to a scholar, it is always given to an M.
An F can easily be distracted and may be too frail for the heavy duty work. She is better off sitting in her chair crunching numbers or with her device doing organizational work.
Should the F raise her hand to step up to the challenge like the M, the professor will lean towards M-456-789 or M-234-567 or M-889-543 or. . .
| F-945-469 Chronicle: Never Choose the Easy Way Out
She was a quiet female. Much more reserved than the females who believe to be introverted and entitled to be part of the “Creative Unit” of the institute. She, like many others, had a dream to build her very own android, but with the hope that it would display her inner energy and much more beyond than what people stereotypically described her to be: cranky. Behind the glowering brows of self-doubt is a girl who has a passion for music and linguistics. But she knew that most people would see her as just another F of colored skin with all the possible negative traits-- stubborn, frugal, and cold-hearted. The institute was smart in employing her for nitty gritty jobs. She followed protocol with routine familiarity and it was not wrong to say that instructions are her comfort zone. She knew deep in her heart however that she was able to break away from mandates, but it was immoral and disrespectful. Yet, she did not know how to break away from the stereotype she fulfilled too well.
Like many others in the “Assembly Unit” she worked diligently with small, agile hands and petite, dexterous fingers. She, along with, F-555-332 had the most efficient method of completing their task. Silence and occasional points of the finger and nods of the head were their form of communication. She worked with a frown and occasionally stopped to speak with F-555-332 on matters of the heart. She did not understand why she would speak personally to F-555-332 as they did not converse on personal life. Of course, she was subtle, like how most Fs were raised. She never brazenly divulged her open thoughts, like most females, never spoke about her emotions--despite the clear mark of unhappiness along the lines of her brow.
“I think I did something wrong. It doesn’t look right” F-945-469 noted to F-555-332.
“Why don’t you ask them if the order is right. I can’t take a guess on it. I’m working on a separate chunk,” F-555-332 replied.
“I don’t want to ask…” F-945-469 mumbled.
“Why? It’ll go a lot quicker instead of you guessing the order of the blocks” F-555-332 stated.
“I just don’t want him to think I’m stupid” F-945-469 admitted and cast her eyes down to her hands as she twisted the block in her hands.
“I’ll go with you. That way they can’t guilt trip you into not understanding their instructions” F-555-332 said.
They went to where the manager and his co-workers were conversing with the dean who was sitting with his feet propped up on a worktable and his arms behind his neck. A pack of males laughing with each other, or perhaps at each other. F-945-469 walked up to the manager and asked him about the correct order she wondered about.She was soon interrupted by the dean who stood up from his chair and walked over to the small F-945-469 whose shoulders suddenly drooped as she saw the cantankerous man walk past the manager and approach to where she stood. Stay strong. Besides he’ll walk past me like I’m a nobody as usual. I didn’t ask him my question, she thought to herself. As he came nearer to F-945-469 he stood behind the manager smirking in self-content. He paused before her and responded, “I choose the blue pill.” After making an allusion towards The Matrix blue pill of fantasy, he walked past her and chuckled while the manager covered his snickers.
F-555-332 the only unlaughing witness was in shock, but had not grown red in embarrassment like her peer F-945-469. She looked back at the dean and F-945-469. He walked on with a smug smile while F-945-469 stood there staring at what would have been his domineering figure. The frown was gone and for once she looked calm. She turned around and walked past F-555-332 without a word and with her eyes looking down, burning with tears. She walked as if she was exasperated--you could have easily mistaken her with a student who was complaining that she had too much work.
She was not “blissful ignorance”, “mindless studying”, and a “manic memorizer”. And she knew, above all other things, that she never chose the easy way out. Why would he ever say that to me? Doesn’t he know I work so much harder than most of the other scholars. Blue pill?! Really? And he says that he supports girls. Is he racist or is he sexist? Why me? He would have never said that to anybody else!
“Hey, are you ok?” F-945-469 was interrupted by F-555-332 who was concerned about her working partner.
“No.” F-945-469 responded.
“It was really out of place. I don’t understand why he said that. But, hey, whatever. We have something to complete. We can set that aside for now” F-555-332 suggested as she looked to F-945-469 who silently glared at her knees while sitting erect in her chair.
She spoke with tears oozing out the corner of her eyes, “I don’t ever want to speak to him or those men again.”
“You don’t need to and you don’t have to. They honestly are just seeking a power trip and it’s sad to take it out on a scholar. It goes against their roles as educators. And you know what’s funny? You’re almost completing! So you don’t ever have to see their faces again.” F-555-332 reassured her friend.
Like F-945-469 she was perturbed and was not able to find a way to have stopped him from using such a harsh reference. It was unpredictable. She did not feel defeated like F-945-469. She discovered the political abuse of the adults on her own and she felt guilty to have not been able to tell her peer about the truth.
|The Dean Chronicle: The Commencement Address
“. . . You are all alike. Just numbers. Take this great privilege to shine behind just a six digit code. This is your prime. You think that later on will be the time of your life? You will find that later you will be stuck in a life that you hate. You won’t know why and you won’t be able to get out of it. You’ll conform and stay a number. You’ll procreate and create other numbers. You’ll have little Fs and little Ms. Your success will just be a delusion.” He talked like Neo. He could have said, “I’m just offering the truth.” He could have laid out the red pill and the blue pill in front of every scholar.
“. . . If you ever go on to the business world, the great money-making corporate world, who dares to compromise the results of science, you will not be happy. You will know that you have wronged yourself. You have wronged science. I know exactly what I am talking about. Believe me. Believe in science. Believe in good. You can do good. I know that all of you can. Do good.”
|F Chronicle: In the journal of an F
What is good? What is happiness? What is privilege? What is the goal of an F? What is the goal of an M? The truth is: there is no right or wrong. PIA does not set you on a path for excellence. It is just the beginning. PIA is just a small line within a journal of wonderful and meaningful experiences. The most important piece of advice is that you can only choose to be happy. A female should never feel constrained in her education or in her career. A second piece of advice: if you come across haters who try to help you, smile and keep walking your own path. Never turn around.
-- F-012-196, she who will be named.
All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to any event or any real person, living or dead, is just a mere coincidence.
Here is my secret:
It is very simple:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye. -The Little Prince
These chronicles take place in a dystopian society and talk about girls in technology & science who have been overlooked because of their background and their values. These girls have not spoken their mind out of the fear of being judged and reprimanded.
|Introductory Chronicle: What is PIA
Every society excludes certain members actively or thoughtlessly. Societies that exclude actively believe that marginalization of a certain group is necessary and for the good of the people. By contrast, cultures that claim to exclude unintentionally are veiled behind the definition of ‘moral exclusion’ and even argue that it is not their fault if a certain group of people do not feel integrated. However, it is not irrational to say that a lack of social interaction contributes to the feeling of dehumanization.
Here at the Progressive Institute for Advancement, scholars either walk with arrogance or with a doubt that they may not graduate with satisfaction. PIA serves underrepresented scholars as well as the presumptuous ones that come from families who have tradition and legacy for academia.These scholars are expected to raise the standard of technology and science education. Meritocracy is highly valued. Scholars, who are taken under the wing of authority within the institute’s administration, are seen as merit scholars. Their parents believe they are elite that can represent the image of the foundation. The professors believe they are their protegés. And the other scholars believe they are a joke.
The other scholars are those who have potential just like their “prestigious” peers. But were not opportunistic towards the doors that were open to them. They are young, like the rest of their classmates, and similarly naive. Some of them remain invisible and are considered useless and unmotivated. Others understand that PIA will not lead them to their future and believe that their work is used to market the image of progressivism. Some believe that there is something wrong with them. They have greatly wronged the foundation. They do not understand why they cannot function like others, despite rising up to their challenges.
While many believe that intelligence is the key to success, the self-doubting scholars discover that character is above all other marks of academic achievement. This is not the same with the highbrow scholars who strongly believe in their academic reputation, which commonly crushes their social skills.
But it doesn’t matter if these savvy and studious scholars are focused on their devices and if they ignore their surroundings. It doesn’t matter if they believe they are the best and if they rely on authority. It doesn’t matter if they want prestige and elitism just as badly as Pavlov’s dogs who cannot help but salivate at their desire. These erudite scholars do good for science.
|F-633-563 Chronicle: Privilege
It was just a day after F-633-563 had sent the Impulse that showed her frustration with her treatment at the institute when the dean called the scholar into the bureau. “F-633-563, I’d like to talk to you” he said as he looked down at his black shoes and took long quick strides into the office.
“You must know by now why you’re here,” he stated as he sat down in the executive chair and looked up with deep dark brown eyes. Today, he did not look like a noble leader. Instead, there was something about his tone of voice that made it as if the Impulse became bigger than what it had intended to be. The lights were bright and one had to focus their vision to find his inky pupil centered in the tenebrous stare of the man.
“Yes,” the female responded matter-of-factly. She could not anticipate his next step of action but understood that it was his moment for inquisition. Don’t self-incriminate, she told herself.
“The Impulse you sent was very poignant and left me in a state of gloom throughout my whole break from school these past few days. It truly did affect me and, as you know, I care deeply about the situation of my scholars in my institute,” he began. “I want to know if there was any moment when we interacted together where I had previously associated you with being a ‘duchess’ or of royalty.”
“No,” F-633-563 responded.
“So just in that particular situation that you had described in your Impulse--you felt that I was targeting you on the basis of your echelon?” he clarified. It was no longer a question, but rather a clarification in which he had worded like a jurist so he could detect loopholes in her impending argument.
“Yes. And I believe it was out of place for you to have distinguished me in front of my peers as part of a top echelon in our society. I have already had remarks from my peers as being the “royal female”. I have certainly used my hands before in my life, as explained in the Impulse. The royal term that you have brought upon me implied a certain spoiled economic status that my peers sneered at when you declared that I never soiled my hands in my life before,” she fervently stated but with calculated words so that her passion in her stomach did not rage from her mouth like a fire-breathing chimera. But despite her draconian emotions she displayed her full serenity and attentiveness. Her eloquence did not change the man's point of view, however.
“Just so you know, cleaning catheters and petri dishes at the Immuno Laboratory in your example, is not really using your hands… At least in the universal common sense of putting your hands at some sort of work. It’s alright. This is no judgement whatsoever. This could be a generational thing, and I recognize that” he retorted.
He smirked to himself as he put the tip of his fingers together and laid the pointes of his elbows on his desk.
“I’d like to give you advice that I think will benefit you in the future,” he continued, “You should not be insecure about the label that you think people bring on you. These thoughts make you insecure and so you believe that you are categorized into a sort of ‘branding’ per se. Let me tell you something, people are born with privileges. Educational privilege--hence you see the erudites today with technology. I had educational privilege due to my father who was quite an intellectual when it came to his subject matter. There is white privilege--of course, you have studied that in your social science classes. Females have privilege. It’s true. Females are able to pass men on a many of number of things because of their gender. But there is male privilege too. Why do you think I recruit so heavily to have an equal balance between M’s and F’s? You happen to be female. Or else nobody would have denoted you as F-633-563. This will come to your advantage and disadvantage. Now in this particular situation for you, there is also something called economic privilege. You have it. I didn’t growing up. When you complete, you might find yourself next to another scholar who has perhaps worked much more than you in terms of a social lifestyle to get to the same place as you. You will have to learn to deal with this and understand that other humans are lower than you economically. I’m not saying you should flaunt such a privilege, but you should definitely be proud and confident about it. Therefore, you should not be bringing on your own insecurities on topics such as class. What I said made you feel uncomfortable and that is because you were expecting that connotation within what I said.”
It was as if every human was born into the echelons that society had imagined within all of dystopian literature, she thought. We don’t live in a dystopia, do we? She could not believe the “truth” he was trying to convey to her unsuspecting and innocent mind. Yes, perhaps there are privileges. Yes, it’s true. We are divided because of these privileges. Was this why there’s such a big movement to build androids? It was a sign of intelligence, elitism and as marketed in the media everyday “progressivism.” It was like a brainwash and it worked. She wasn’t sure what was truth or not. But she could tell he was trying to bring her on the other side of the point, to drop her contentions and agree with his. Why must they always argue that I was overreacting? Does he have a degree in reverse psychology?
“I really believe that my guardians’ success is their very own and that I will have to build my success by myself. My guardians made sure that I would not hope for a handout, I must make way like all others. I didn’t choose to live off their success. I don’t think it was fair for you to distinguish me from the other scholars like that. I come here to learn first, not to be distinguished as the one percent,” the female stated. The discussion was unusually friendly and she was glad he was silent as she talked and that she was not interrupted. There wasn’t any worry to sound naive in front of the omniscient adult who claimed repetitively and passionately that he understood the workforce and how one can create their demise in that realm of cutthroat competition. He always claimed about being successful.
He was so right yet so wrong. Why did he focus so much on privilege? What did he miss in his life to be so bitter? Is truth bitter?
After a long-drawn conversation that wasted her thirty minutes of program time, she walked out of the bureau with a stride. As if she was strutting down a runway, not because she had missed class, but because she had not taken his advice-- a first in all of her four years. But she would always keep in mind the privilege talk and laugh at it later. She will soon understand that not all help is the same. It may guide you or it may hurt you. She did not want to become deluded like him. She did not want to be stuck in his fake reality.
|Fs and Ms Chronicle: Females and Males
At PIA, the females are either introverted or extroverted. Introverts are considered loyal while extroverts are considered less worthy to complete a task.
Males are always reliable to follow protocol and execute a task.
Extroverted females become introverts when they realize that they are “too female” at PIA. They must defeminize themselves to feel like they can belong with the rest of the scholars who furiously compete to build the most beautiful android at the institute.
|PIA Chronicle: In the halls of PIA
School spirit is rarely found at PIA, unless there is an entourage of reporters or prospective students visiting the adorned rooms of the institute. Here, professors fear a loss of their jobs if they do not meet futuristic standards. Some are cantankerous, while others are caring and understand that personality can compensate for their lack of stringent teaching. Nevertheless, they are effective in handling their curriculum.
But when they must hand-off a task to a scholar, it is always given to an M.
An F can easily be distracted and may be too frail for the heavy duty work. She is better off sitting in her chair crunching numbers or with her device doing organizational work.
Should the F raise her hand to step up to the challenge like the M, the professor will lean towards M-456-789 or M-234-567 or M-889-543 or. . .
| F-945-469 Chronicle: Never Choose the Easy Way Out
She was a quiet female. Much more reserved than the females who believe to be introverted and entitled to be part of the “Creative Unit” of the institute. She, like many others, had a dream to build her very own android, but with the hope that it would display her inner energy and much more beyond than what people stereotypically described her to be: cranky. Behind the glowering brows of self-doubt is a girl who has a passion for music and linguistics. But she knew that most people would see her as just another F of colored skin with all the possible negative traits-- stubborn, frugal, and cold-hearted. The institute was smart in employing her for nitty gritty jobs. She followed protocol with routine familiarity and it was not wrong to say that instructions are her comfort zone. She knew deep in her heart however that she was able to break away from mandates, but it was immoral and disrespectful. Yet, she did not know how to break away from the stereotype she fulfilled too well.
Like many others in the “Assembly Unit” she worked diligently with small, agile hands and petite, dexterous fingers. She, along with, F-555-332 had the most efficient method of completing their task. Silence and occasional points of the finger and nods of the head were their form of communication. She worked with a frown and occasionally stopped to speak with F-555-332 on matters of the heart. She did not understand why she would speak personally to F-555-332 as they did not converse on personal life. Of course, she was subtle, like how most Fs were raised. She never brazenly divulged her open thoughts, like most females, never spoke about her emotions--despite the clear mark of unhappiness along the lines of her brow.
“I think I did something wrong. It doesn’t look right” F-945-469 noted to F-555-332.
“Why don’t you ask them if the order is right. I can’t take a guess on it. I’m working on a separate chunk,” F-555-332 replied.
“I don’t want to ask…” F-945-469 mumbled.
“Why? It’ll go a lot quicker instead of you guessing the order of the blocks” F-555-332 stated.
“I just don’t want him to think I’m stupid” F-945-469 admitted and cast her eyes down to her hands as she twisted the block in her hands.
“I’ll go with you. That way they can’t guilt trip you into not understanding their instructions” F-555-332 said.
They went to where the manager and his co-workers were conversing with the dean who was sitting with his feet propped up on a worktable and his arms behind his neck. A pack of males laughing with each other, or perhaps at each other. F-945-469 walked up to the manager and asked him about the correct order she wondered about.She was soon interrupted by the dean who stood up from his chair and walked over to the small F-945-469 whose shoulders suddenly drooped as she saw the cantankerous man walk past the manager and approach to where she stood. Stay strong. Besides he’ll walk past me like I’m a nobody as usual. I didn’t ask him my question, she thought to herself. As he came nearer to F-945-469 he stood behind the manager smirking in self-content. He paused before her and responded, “I choose the blue pill.” After making an allusion towards The Matrix blue pill of fantasy, he walked past her and chuckled while the manager covered his snickers.
F-555-332 the only unlaughing witness was in shock, but had not grown red in embarrassment like her peer F-945-469. She looked back at the dean and F-945-469. He walked on with a smug smile while F-945-469 stood there staring at what would have been his domineering figure. The frown was gone and for once she looked calm. She turned around and walked past F-555-332 without a word and with her eyes looking down, burning with tears. She walked as if she was exasperated--you could have easily mistaken her with a student who was complaining that she had too much work.
She was not “blissful ignorance”, “mindless studying”, and a “manic memorizer”. And she knew, above all other things, that she never chose the easy way out. Why would he ever say that to me? Doesn’t he know I work so much harder than most of the other scholars. Blue pill?! Really? And he says that he supports girls. Is he racist or is he sexist? Why me? He would have never said that to anybody else!
“Hey, are you ok?” F-945-469 was interrupted by F-555-332 who was concerned about her working partner.
“No.” F-945-469 responded.
“It was really out of place. I don’t understand why he said that. But, hey, whatever. We have something to complete. We can set that aside for now” F-555-332 suggested as she looked to F-945-469 who silently glared at her knees while sitting erect in her chair.
She spoke with tears oozing out the corner of her eyes, “I don’t ever want to speak to him or those men again.”
“You don’t need to and you don’t have to. They honestly are just seeking a power trip and it’s sad to take it out on a scholar. It goes against their roles as educators. And you know what’s funny? You’re almost completing! So you don’t ever have to see their faces again.” F-555-332 reassured her friend.
Like F-945-469 she was perturbed and was not able to find a way to have stopped him from using such a harsh reference. It was unpredictable. She did not feel defeated like F-945-469. She discovered the political abuse of the adults on her own and she felt guilty to have not been able to tell her peer about the truth.
|The Dean Chronicle: The Commencement Address
“. . . You are all alike. Just numbers. Take this great privilege to shine behind just a six digit code. This is your prime. You think that later on will be the time of your life? You will find that later you will be stuck in a life that you hate. You won’t know why and you won’t be able to get out of it. You’ll conform and stay a number. You’ll procreate and create other numbers. You’ll have little Fs and little Ms. Your success will just be a delusion.” He talked like Neo. He could have said, “I’m just offering the truth.” He could have laid out the red pill and the blue pill in front of every scholar.
“. . . If you ever go on to the business world, the great money-making corporate world, who dares to compromise the results of science, you will not be happy. You will know that you have wronged yourself. You have wronged science. I know exactly what I am talking about. Believe me. Believe in science. Believe in good. You can do good. I know that all of you can. Do good.”
|F Chronicle: In the journal of an F
What is good? What is happiness? What is privilege? What is the goal of an F? What is the goal of an M? The truth is: there is no right or wrong. PIA does not set you on a path for excellence. It is just the beginning. PIA is just a small line within a journal of wonderful and meaningful experiences. The most important piece of advice is that you can only choose to be happy. A female should never feel constrained in her education or in her career. A second piece of advice: if you come across haters who try to help you, smile and keep walking your own path. Never turn around.
-- F-012-196, she who will be named.
Niema P.
Daydream
He is a young, healthy looking boy ready to go to a new school in his second year. He did everything his mom to told him do, he got dressed, comb his hair, and brush his teeth. He had cinnamon toast crunch for breakfast, he follows his mother to the silver Honda accord in the well neat organized garage. Honda turn on nice and smoothly that the sound that makes him elated each time he goes to his mother. He was sitting in blue buzz lightyear, booster seat; right next to him was his woody, buzz lightyear, and peter pan. “WE ARE OFF To SEE NEVERLAND, and have an amazing adventure,” the boy said so proudly. As the garage door opens, the mother states “Now for some pixie dust to fly away into the sky.” He imagines gold dust circulating around the car, making it float above the ground. The car was getting further away from the ground going into outer space towards a northern star. When the journey ended, they are in front of the school, it compared different to the previous school; he went to this campus was the shape of an oval with the classrooms that were all around. The building was the color of peach and orange, something seems nerve-wracking about it.
In the classroom, 25 other students possibly our friends in the near future rather than being someone nobody know. When recess came, he was walking along the grass and he notices one of the classmates were coming towards him. He was suddenly getting nervous, he brings all the courage to say hello only be ignored by the Henry who was playing tag with others. No one invited him to play with him or her. He shrugged it off “All well maybe next time,” skips along to the bathroom. School was over, he hop in his mom car ready for the next day, “Make any new friends honey,” “I did he likes to pretend he an astronaut, and I am buzz walking on Pluto,” he giggled.
As weeks come by, he never played with anyone other than Tinyler short for tiny. He never had the guts to play with others due to his wild imagination. The teacher told the class to get in groups, causing a mental panicked for him. No one turned around when he was crying and yelling not wanting being not knowledgeable to his peers. He walked out of the classroom, “what’s the matter,” said tiny, “I don’t like working with others; they don’t even listen to what I have to say to them they ignore me. I hate going to school,” he starts crying, “It’s like they don’t even see me at all, I feel so lonely but at least I have you tiny.” The teacher seems to notice that he was talking to himself. The teacher and mom were talking, having a deep and serious, which got a concern look from his mother.
The next day instead of going to school, he found himself in the doctor’s office, “Today we are going to talk with the doctor today instead of going to school okay,” said mom. “Okay,” said the boy being sudden curious, “Can I play with Tiny for a while, he here to play with me; Hey don’t you see the birds flying around your head HAHA,” laughing so loud. After the doctor visit, his mom and dad were really disappointed and sad conversation. “Our son has Schizophrenia should we just ignore him for the rest of our lives by sending him to a mental facility,” said the father.
He went running upstairs to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. His mind was racing all over the place from having no friends, Tinyler the imaginary friend, to his parents say goodbye forever. He was tossing and turning in bed, “What’s the matter honey did you have a nightmare?” “I did, everyone was ignoring me and you were going to send me far away,” said the boy. “Oh honey, why would we do that to our only son,” said the mom patting his back gently. Standing in front of the school, Terry ran over to him and talked about his dog ate a rat. “Have fun on your first day of school Jasper!”
Katie T.
My Abuelita
In a little town called Michoacan, Mexico, a young girl was born. She had brothers and sisters and played with the children. Her parents came from wealth and owned the largest hacienda of all the land. Her father employed the people of Michoacan and kept the town running. As a result, her family was very well respected and everybody knew who they were. Seeing as how no water flowed and there were not any paved roads, society was rather dilapidated.
A few years later, the little girl lost her mother to a lightning storm. As her mother slept, a lightning bolt struck her and caused her to go into early labor. The midwife attempted to perform a c- section, but due to the lack of medical care in the town, she was unable to save the baby or the mother. That day, the little girl was left to fend for herself.
Her father remarried, but the stepmother told the girl that she would not take care of her or her siblings, because they were not her children. The girl taught herself how to cook and do laundry and took on the responsibilities of the household to care of her family.
Despite the lack of support from her stepmother, the girl was sent to school and earned an education. She learned how to read and write, so much so that a Catholic boarding school recruited her to continue her academics.
After three years, she came back to her town as a leader. The school gave her the skills to be able to take an idea and turn it into a reality. She figured out how to communicate to people the word of God in a way that they would understand.
One thing she realized was that nobody knew just how many people lived in the town to begin with. The girl took it upon herself to inventory the houses. As she went around Michoacan, she noticed that there were a number of people who did not know how to read or write. In order to compensate for the lack of literacy, she offered her services to families to help read or write letters.
In addition, she asked if the children of the town would want to have a religious education if it was offered. As the consensus was positive, the girl established a Catechism program in which she taught children about God and to be literate. Her devotion to her community shined through her work and she was the face of a brighter future.
At the age of 25, she got married. Her husband’s work took them to the United States where he was relocated to Santa Barbara, CA. The girl left behind her life in Mexico in the hope of making a better one.
Coming to the United States, however, was not all that she had dreamed. She went from a high-ranking class citizen to low-ranking class citizen, because of her race. In a society filled with light skin, her auburn skin marked her as different. Standing at just under five feet, she was stereotyped as a Hispanic woman with no purpose, but to have children and cater to her husband. On top of everything, she could not speak the language, so the public threw her aside as just another immigrant.
Being used to challenges, the girl faced the situation and looked for a solution. Her first step of action was taking classes to learn English as a means to communicate with the rest of the population. After that, she collaborated with her husband and built a landscaping business in which she was in charge of doing some of the work and all of the management for it. Once they had garnered a high enough income, they used the money to make investments in property, therefore, instigating their own real estate business too. In a place that shoved her down because of being a Hispanic woman in a white man’s land, she overcame the obstacles and emerged as a leader in business.
In addition to her work, she had three daughters. As a strong believer in a Catholic education, she enrolled her daughters into Notre Dame School and Bishop Garcia Diego High School. During their childhoods, she gave them minimal house chores to encourage them to focus on school and see that they were just as entitled to make something of themselves just like everyone else. Instead of learning how to do the common household chores, she wanted her daughters to earn an education, so that they could tell someone how to do the chores.
Even though she did not know everything the white mothers did, she supported her daughters’ intellectual development. Instead of teach nursery rhymes, like the “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” she taught her daughters the equivalent in Spanish. She sang lullabies and instructed them how to read and write.
Her firstborn chose against going to college. Her second daughter, on the hand, decided that she wanted to pursue her education and follow a career in teaching. At first, her father was opposed to the idea and thought that she should stay home, get married, and have a family, but her mother would not settle for that. After further debate, her mother said that if her father would not pay for her daughter to go to college, then she would find work and pay for her daughter’s college tuition herself. Eventually, the father came around and agreed to allow his daughter to go to school. The daughter graduated from both the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of San Diego. The third daughter also pursued a college education and graduated from the University of California Los Angeles. Both daughters went on to have fruitful careers and started their own families.
The young girl from Michoacan had five grandchildren, three of which were girls. At the age of 69, she attended her first granddaughter’s graduation from the University of California Berkeley. In the following years, she witnessed her second granddaughter graduate from Arizona State University and her grandson graduate from Columbia University. Her youngest granddaughter is set to attend college at the University of California Berkeley in the fall of 2014.
She currently resides in a house in Santa Barbara with her husband and they continue to run their real estate business. Furthermore, she is also a Catechism teacher at Notre Dame School. Her hobbies include gardening and word puzzles. She adores getting to her daughters and grandchildren.
As an elderly woman, she is living proof that any person, Hispanic or white, can succeed. Her legacy will live on through her grandchildren as they make their marks on the world.
The girl went from a child to a woman to a wife to a mother to an Abuelita. Although it may not be big, she continues to change the world by unifying the family through something as simple as sharing a meal together. She is the one person who will always have her arms wide open for a hug.
In society, Hispanic women are invisible, because people have developed a reputation for them to be uneducated and get pregnant out of wedlock. While this is valid for some women, the young girl from Michoacan demonstrates the flaw in the stereotype. Just because of the way someone looks or the language they speak does not make them inferior to someone else. Once society can cast aside its expectation and take the time to get to know its Hispanic women, it will discover raw potential that would have otherwise been wasted because no one took the time to help it blossom. Sometimes all someone needs is for someone to believe in them. Having the support can drive miracles and suddenly the invisible is no more.
Abuelita is visible.
In a little town called Michoacan, Mexico, a young girl was born. She had brothers and sisters and played with the children. Her parents came from wealth and owned the largest hacienda of all the land. Her father employed the people of Michoacan and kept the town running. As a result, her family was very well respected and everybody knew who they were. Seeing as how no water flowed and there were not any paved roads, society was rather dilapidated.
A few years later, the little girl lost her mother to a lightning storm. As her mother slept, a lightning bolt struck her and caused her to go into early labor. The midwife attempted to perform a c- section, but due to the lack of medical care in the town, she was unable to save the baby or the mother. That day, the little girl was left to fend for herself.
Her father remarried, but the stepmother told the girl that she would not take care of her or her siblings, because they were not her children. The girl taught herself how to cook and do laundry and took on the responsibilities of the household to care of her family.
Despite the lack of support from her stepmother, the girl was sent to school and earned an education. She learned how to read and write, so much so that a Catholic boarding school recruited her to continue her academics.
After three years, she came back to her town as a leader. The school gave her the skills to be able to take an idea and turn it into a reality. She figured out how to communicate to people the word of God in a way that they would understand.
One thing she realized was that nobody knew just how many people lived in the town to begin with. The girl took it upon herself to inventory the houses. As she went around Michoacan, she noticed that there were a number of people who did not know how to read or write. In order to compensate for the lack of literacy, she offered her services to families to help read or write letters.
In addition, she asked if the children of the town would want to have a religious education if it was offered. As the consensus was positive, the girl established a Catechism program in which she taught children about God and to be literate. Her devotion to her community shined through her work and she was the face of a brighter future.
At the age of 25, she got married. Her husband’s work took them to the United States where he was relocated to Santa Barbara, CA. The girl left behind her life in Mexico in the hope of making a better one.
Coming to the United States, however, was not all that she had dreamed. She went from a high-ranking class citizen to low-ranking class citizen, because of her race. In a society filled with light skin, her auburn skin marked her as different. Standing at just under five feet, she was stereotyped as a Hispanic woman with no purpose, but to have children and cater to her husband. On top of everything, she could not speak the language, so the public threw her aside as just another immigrant.
Being used to challenges, the girl faced the situation and looked for a solution. Her first step of action was taking classes to learn English as a means to communicate with the rest of the population. After that, she collaborated with her husband and built a landscaping business in which she was in charge of doing some of the work and all of the management for it. Once they had garnered a high enough income, they used the money to make investments in property, therefore, instigating their own real estate business too. In a place that shoved her down because of being a Hispanic woman in a white man’s land, she overcame the obstacles and emerged as a leader in business.
In addition to her work, she had three daughters. As a strong believer in a Catholic education, she enrolled her daughters into Notre Dame School and Bishop Garcia Diego High School. During their childhoods, she gave them minimal house chores to encourage them to focus on school and see that they were just as entitled to make something of themselves just like everyone else. Instead of learning how to do the common household chores, she wanted her daughters to earn an education, so that they could tell someone how to do the chores.
Even though she did not know everything the white mothers did, she supported her daughters’ intellectual development. Instead of teach nursery rhymes, like the “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” she taught her daughters the equivalent in Spanish. She sang lullabies and instructed them how to read and write.
Her firstborn chose against going to college. Her second daughter, on the hand, decided that she wanted to pursue her education and follow a career in teaching. At first, her father was opposed to the idea and thought that she should stay home, get married, and have a family, but her mother would not settle for that. After further debate, her mother said that if her father would not pay for her daughter to go to college, then she would find work and pay for her daughter’s college tuition herself. Eventually, the father came around and agreed to allow his daughter to go to school. The daughter graduated from both the University of California Santa Barbara and the University of San Diego. The third daughter also pursued a college education and graduated from the University of California Los Angeles. Both daughters went on to have fruitful careers and started their own families.
The young girl from Michoacan had five grandchildren, three of which were girls. At the age of 69, she attended her first granddaughter’s graduation from the University of California Berkeley. In the following years, she witnessed her second granddaughter graduate from Arizona State University and her grandson graduate from Columbia University. Her youngest granddaughter is set to attend college at the University of California Berkeley in the fall of 2014.
She currently resides in a house in Santa Barbara with her husband and they continue to run their real estate business. Furthermore, she is also a Catechism teacher at Notre Dame School. Her hobbies include gardening and word puzzles. She adores getting to her daughters and grandchildren.
As an elderly woman, she is living proof that any person, Hispanic or white, can succeed. Her legacy will live on through her grandchildren as they make their marks on the world.
The girl went from a child to a woman to a wife to a mother to an Abuelita. Although it may not be big, she continues to change the world by unifying the family through something as simple as sharing a meal together. She is the one person who will always have her arms wide open for a hug.
In society, Hispanic women are invisible, because people have developed a reputation for them to be uneducated and get pregnant out of wedlock. While this is valid for some women, the young girl from Michoacan demonstrates the flaw in the stereotype. Just because of the way someone looks or the language they speak does not make them inferior to someone else. Once society can cast aside its expectation and take the time to get to know its Hispanic women, it will discover raw potential that would have otherwise been wasted because no one took the time to help it blossom. Sometimes all someone needs is for someone to believe in them. Having the support can drive miracles and suddenly the invisible is no more.
Abuelita is visible.