Merry Christmas!

My obsurvation on life today:
"You don't know what you have until it is gone" is a LIE!
   You know EXACTLY what you have. You just don't know what it means to you or you take it for granted OR you even grow so used to it you don't think to think of anyother way.
     I had a nice day and am doing well but I couldn't help but think.

Update!

     The otherday I went with some friends to the Christmas market in Brussels and had a ball! I will try to get pictures up soon!

Music

      When you ask me what my favorite song is I can't seem to give just one answer.

I used to think that I was just so interested in different languages and styles that I couldn't decide but now I think it's a bit deeper than that.

Now I think that every song I like speaks to a different part of who I think I am. Just as I beleive that a person can't be explained in one word they can't be entirely explained in one song.

Smile!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Tyne Cot Cemetery

I just can't quite explain the feeling I got from Tyne Cot Cemetery.
Walking in a woman was standing in front of a memorial telling us about her great grandfather (or how ever many greats and male family member it was) and how important  that memorial was to her. It was then when I got a better idea of where I am from and what this cemetery meant to other people.
     As far as I know I have no one to mourn in that cemetery but so many other people did. I saw many graves for a British or Canadian man but not one for an American. It made a bigger impression on me than I think I can explain. Most of the graves looked like this:

"Known unto God"

Those words had a HUGE impact on me.

I began to think of the man in the grave who was Dad or Uncle or Mr... to someone. The man who was loved. I thought of the families who loved that man and I thought of his friends.

The fact that I had never seen an American grave in the cemetery gave me an even bigger feeling of "This person doesn't really mean anything to me but to someone else he could have been everything"



Tyne Cot Cemetery and Ypres pictures

 

Yup

GREAT SNAKES I'M IN BELGIUM!

  I had my "OH MY ROWLING I'M IN BELGIUM!" break down and cry a bit moment at the top of a tower when I could see the Atomium from a distance.

 

Of course there are many things on the list of what I'd like to experience and I seem to have already gotten the major things crossed off that list.

Why do I have the Belgian flag painted on my face?

I'm AMAZING at Belgian Trivia that's why!

 

I'm the real waffle monster of Belgium!

There's a reason why the waffles are famous!

GREAT SNAKES! The Tintin mural is real!

 

Not sure how this picture of the Atomium turned out so awesome or if it is just awesome in my head.

Even the signs for the toilets in the Atomium are cool!

The Atomium is just cool to look at!

 

 

Even though I've been having a nice time in Belgium that doesn't stop me from being happy to see something like home. The Harley stand outside of the Atomium was nice for that.

 

I will add to this thought later but I have to go.

Have a wonderful day!

 

 

 

stereotypes!

American stereotypes get thrown around quite a lot with me and they I'm good at handling them and sometimes just being the stereotype "Yes, I will be the stereotypical American and have a hamburger with my coke. Thank you." (true story) Or when I show people the picture I took that shows the stereotypical American patriotism.

     I must say though that it is funny when Belgian stereotypes show themselves. In Bruges I found probably the best conglomeration of everything people know about Belgium and it made me laugh.

Beer shaped chocolate anyone?

 

Getting to Belgium.

 

 

     I got bored a handful of times while traveling to Belgium and I'm not quite sure how I did it but I accidently made a video pretty accurately describing how travel was like for me.

 

Going to Chicago I remembered that I was told that selfies are nessicary for I can't remember why so YAY plane selfies!

 

IN CHICAGO THERE WAS A RANDOM DINOSAUR!

 

 

When I landed in Brussels I was reminded of WWI because there are POPPIES EVERYWHERE! So I took a picture of the poppies on the ceiling.

 

 

 

Playing with the Camera

 

 

Just EVERYTHING!

 

     Hi everyone!
This post is going to kick off (hopefully) me being better at updating my blog. YAY! I've so much to say so I'm not sure where to start so I'll try to explain my current language.
     I'm glad that many people here speak English but it isn't helping me with my Dutch! Right now I can more or less (mostly less) understand Dutch and I'm getting better at speaking.
    I can get people to understand me in Dutch but that by no means says that I have any Dutch grammar! I want to think in Dutch but I haven't got the vocabulary I want to think in but I read children's books to help build my vocabulary so maybe I should pick out a few science books for 6 year olds and I'll be set. Or at least that's what I hope!
    I just need to have patience with myself! After all I didn't start speaking English in complex thoughts! At least I can now order a waffle in Dutch!(joke) Serious life skills if you spend a year in Belgium (end joke). The waffle ordeal started as a search for waffles on a field trip and resulted in me getting High 5ed because we all finally had waffles and I ordered mine by myself.
     People LOVE my accent although it is very strange. Not many Americans learn Dutch so no one really knows what to expect from an American accent. I laugh when people get me to talk just to hear my accent!
     Dutch words literally translated make more sense than English words do, ESPECIALLY chemistry words. For example: waterstof literally translates to "water stuff" but it is Hydrogen.
     Also words I thought were made up are real words. Ever read "Knuffle Bunny"? Knuffle is the word for a stuffed animal in Dutch!
     All this doesn't stop me from being a bit mad at myself when I want to say what I think but I want to do it in Dutch and I don't have a big enough speaking vocabulary to do so. 
     Learning Dutch is a bit like eating an apple. I first see the apple and understand that it is an apple, then I make the decision to eat the apple, next I take a bite of the apple I have to chew that bit of apple and swallow before I take the next bite.
     I'm still on my first (maybe second) bite of apple but soon enough I'll wish I still had an apple.
   Life is not like a box of chocolates it is more like eating an apple. With a box of chocolates you can look at the map on the back of the box and make a choice. If you pick up an apple though you never can be 100% sure what sort it is and if it has any worms in it. Maybe that apple is made out of plastic and you don't know because it's all the way across the room and you just have to get up from your chair to see but you're favorite show is on and you think the apple is plastic and you have enough time later to see but the cat knocks the bowl off the coffee table and the apple was plastic and the cat tears it apart by pouncing on it.
  

BELGIUM IS AWESOME!

     After having done the research I can officially say that going to Belgium is kinda like being able to go to Hogwarts for me! After reading about it for so long I can say that I know next to nothing about a lot of things in Belgium but am a super expert when it comes to Belgian trivia! 

I have so much that I can say but I dont know where to start! I've tried the top 3 foods I wanted to try; Fries, waffle, chocolate and can officially say that they are famous for a reason!

Everyone in Belgium is so nice and I like it here very much.

I had my "OH MY GOSH I'M IN BELGIUM" moment at the top of a cathederal in Mechelen(with the program) after climbing over 500 stairs and I could see the Atomium in the distance. I was so happy that I actually cried!

Also some students from Wallonia say that I am "a real Belgian" after they gave a quiz for their country presentation (you can guess whose team won ;) ) and they invited everyone in the room to dance to a Belgian song so I got up and danced and they put a Belgian flag with world cup stuff on it around my shoulders and said I was allowed to have the flag there because I knew my stuff. They also put face paint on me in Belgian flag pattern because they had it left over from the world cup. I was beyond happy! They even gave me a Belgium bracelet and that made me feel like I actually belonged here.

I know that not EVERYDAY isgoing to go as easily as it has so far but I also know that those days will pass and I will look back more on the good days than the bad. But for right now everything is "TOTALLY AWESOME!" I will try to get pictures up soon but am not sure how that will go.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

On my way!

    This is the second craziest thing I've ever done! The first was being born.
     All I can really think is AHHHHHHHH. This is both an excited exclamation and a bit of a scared/sad one. It's hard leaving your family in an airport.
   Ah well! "I'm on my way"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqKa942QtzQ

How I feel.

     It is the strangest feeling I've ever had! The day feels normal even though I know my life is going to change very soon. It seems a bit eerie to me actually, like the water is perfect but who knows what's lurking in the depths?
     I know that I will have a wonderful time and that everything will be fine although I can't help but be a little nervous.  I've been thinking of much more random stuff than normal just to keep myself from freaking out about the entire situation.
     I've got a few things left to do and I'll be all set! The excitement and curiosity outweigh the nervousness or fear. 

I MISS WORLD HISTORY CLASS! :'(

     Today two things reminded me of World History.  1) I got the movie Valkyrie from the library. The second is the fact that the internet had a picture of a waffle monster! It just made my day!

 

Proof that my sister is a monster.

      Please note that I love my sisters very much and we did not set this picture up on purpose. She walked into the picture at the perfect moment.

 

 

 

 

 

What's up?

      I'm waiting for my visa to come. I already have my flight information all I need is my visa and to pack.
     Other than packing and waiting for my visa I think I'm all set. I had a going away party and that was all sorts of fun and a lot of family showed up. I even got some friends to show up!
     I'm sorry that I've been posting short updates recently, I haven't had much else to say let alone much time to type it. I will be updating when I can. I will also try to update as I'm traveling on the 15th and 16th to let you know how my flights are going but those if I do post as I travel will be very short and similar to what one would post on Face book.

My teeth part 2

     I FINALLY GOT MY RETAINER! I'm sorry I yelled but I'm just so excited! Plus today is Neville Longbottom's birthday so I made lemon cake and brought it into the orthodontist's office to share.
     They pretty much took the expander out told me about the retainer and some information and I was all set. That's just about it.  Short post today but I haven't really got much else to share about my teeth so yeah.

My teeth.

     Ugh Jolie! No one wants to hear you talk about your teeth. Too bad! I'm getting excited about this! So, for those of you who don't know I have a palatal expander but not for much longer! I get it taken out on the 30th and I'll get a retainer to wear while I'm in Belgium! I will now explain my palatal expander and tell some (hopefully) funny stories.
       I needed an expander because my teeth were crowded due to my narrow upper jaw. It's function really is best explained by the picture below.

So, before I could get my expander I had to go to the orthodontist to figure out what I needed and what would have to be done because of my going to Belgium for a year. He told us that I needed a palatal expander and when I'm in Belgium I'll have to wear a retainer.

     Before I could do anything else they had to put spacers between my teeth. All spacers are, are these little blue rubber bands they put between your teeth to make space enough for your expander.  I only lost a spacer because I ate a gummy vitamin to be a good example for my younger cousin! When they went to take out the spacers they found that one of them had embedded itself in my gums. That wasn't fun.

 

     I can't remember when I got the molds taken but those were part of the process. I had to bite down on some pink stuff that tried really hard to be berry flavored. That was the day they had to get x-rays and I confused the lady by saying "brain pan" because she thought I was going on and on about being able to see my brain but I wasn't she was very nice and tried to tell me that I couldn't see my brain on the x-ray though. They had to use these cheek spreader things to get pictures and they used mirrors and I was laughing really hard because it isn't normal to have your face pulled like that. They do seem to have to tell me to stop laughing at the dentist and orthodontist offices a lot, LOL!

     Ok, so then I went in and got the terrible device that is no fun at all. For this I had to miss my first hour English class. When I got back to school I had missed a few minutes of second hour Chinese but as I got all sorted out in the office the English teacher walked in and was joking about something along the lines of "Oh I see how it is. Skipping only my class.." and what not. I had to stop by my locker to get all sorted out for class and my English teacher caught me in the hall and asked me about my expander and what not. I had such a terrible lisp for those first few days and I thought it was funny that my first class with my expander was Chinese where I had to try and pronounce things properly and I knew I wouldn't be able to. My Chinese teacher was really great about it and told me that I could "get used to [my] teeth" and that cracked me up just because it was so completely true. Then I had to get used to eating lunch, that was a trip! Later that day I had World History and I flat out told everyone that it was ok to make fun of my lisp because I knew it would go away soon enough. When I was talking I could see a few people trying so hard not to laugh so after I gave the ok it was almost a game to get me to say "Solar System" or a hard word or phrase like that  the teacher jokingly told me to say "Suffering Succotash" so I did because I also got a kick out of my lisp on that first day. I was so glad that all of my teachers and classmates (at least the ones who matter) were so wonderful about being patient with me while I was lisping and tried not to laugh too hard.

     After the first day I HATED that lisp of mine but I viewed it as a chance to see what not being able to communicate in Belgium might be like. I couldn't form my words properly so I often had to repeat myself and what not. Between that and not being able to swallow properly at first I was all sorts of upset but life got better as things got easier. It was really hard to be so frustrated at myself and have everyone tell me that it was all right because I didn't feel all right with the world. It's a good thing I quickly got over myself!

    Something I also had to learn quickly is how painful turning the key of the expander is.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be but it wasn't fun to have an adult take the key and have to keep my mouth open really wide as they turned the part that made the expander work. Usually a while after I would get this pain right in the middle of my forehead and we called it "The Harry Potters" because it felt similar to how  J.K. Rowling described Harry's scar acting up only difference was that I could tolerate it and no evil guy was trying to mess with my head. Any who this is what the key looks like. 

    

 

The last picture I have isn't of my expander but it looks very similar, if not exactly the same.

      I think it's funny that now there are marks on my tongue. Like those arrows printed on the metal left a funny print and what not although sometimes it is quite painful especially those arms that stick toward the front! I was thankful for dental wax that I could put on those small parts that stick into your cheek because those little buggers are quite painful!

     I've also found that the following foods aren't as fun to eat with an expander: Carrots break off into sharp fragments that will stab you in the gums, Popcorn, Ice cream because not being able to reach the roof of your mouth and getting brain freeze stinks, Chips, Blueberries, Starburst, and pretty much anything else if you're not careful! Also another note to add is that when you first get your expander you drool a LOT and you have trouble with drinking fountains (this caused the amusement of several people during Gym class) and just beverages in general. Oh! I should also point out that I never dared to try celery with my expander. Thank goodness for the water pick and the scrubby brush thingies!

     Other than funny lisp moments and getting food caught in the expander there hasn't been any real interesting stories.  I hope that this post was at least somewhat entertaining. I am so sorry about how jumbled this all is and the spelling and grammar mistakes that I've surely made but it has been that sort of a day.

 

 

 



Update on like EVERYTHING

     This might sound all sorts of jumbled but I have quite a bit to update.
     Camping went really well! What was supposed to be a day trip to the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) turned out to be an overnight trip because we had to see some bears. We saw Kitch-iti-kippi springs and went to a zoo and a boardwalk the first day then we went to Oswald's bear ranch the second day. After the U.P. we went to our property and had a nice time.
     When we got back from camping we went to the family reunion. I got to play volley ball and am still sore from that.
     I have several drafts that I'll be working on for "Watch how I Soar" I just need to get to it. The posts aren't anything too important they just are (hopefully) more fun than a lot of what I've been posting recently.
     I've been talking with my host family so that's all good. After PDO I realize that the thing about exchange I'm most freaked out about right now is getting lost in the airport on the way to Belgium! I figure the rest of what happens I don't get much say in the rest of what happens so I shouldn't worry about that but if I get lost on my way that wouldn't be a good thing. I've also decided that some of the things I'm most excited about are meeting my host family, the food and seeing the places I've read about. I leave soon (ish) so yay!
     Today I realized that I'm by no means "normal" and that I'm cool with that. Not many other girls my age would probably watch part of a ceremony for Neil Armstrong on the NASA channel and then try to learn about other stuff for the rest of the day. I just hope I remember my Duolingo Dutch for the day! I should probably work on that now.
     Until next time. Doei! (See the Duolingo DOES help! That is a way to say "bye" in Dutch.)

#Apollo45

    Mr. Aldrin has asked everyone who was alive then to share where they were for the moon landing, for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to watch it on a television in 1969 he has asked us to share how the Apollo missions have inspired us. He has asked us to share all of this under #Apollo45 because it's the 45th anniversary of the moon landing. So here goes my version of #Apollo45.
     The Apollo missions proved to the world that we can put men on the moon! What could be more inspiring than that? And to think they put those men on the moon with computers that my pocket calculator could run circles around! Wow! That's not even mentioning that they got some of those men home with some duct tape and quick thinking (Apollo 13).
     One of my favorite quotes is "Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon." and to me that is probably the best thing about the Apollo missions. To me the Apollo missions show that we may be only human but we can shoot for the stars and we will try. We let our curiosity get the best of us and sometimes it isn't a bad thing.
     I believe that we should teach children to keep their curiosity and imagination because they are the problem solvers and hope for the future. I want to see a world where there are no questions dodged in a classroom just because "you'll learn that later" and if it just can't be answered I would like to see kids actually looking up the answers! We need to not shut down curiosity, we need to embrace it! That is something we can learn from Apollo. The Apollo missions and everything surrounding them were interesting and inspiring.
     

Pre Departure Orientation!

     I got to fly by myself for the first time EVER on Friday! That was a bit scary but it was a beautiful day and I took notes about what I saw and how amazing I thought it was. That was groovy. Then I found the YFU (Youth For Understanding) people and got all situated.
     When I got to the college EVERYONE was speaking different languages at me and I had to figure out what I had to do. I thought it was a brilliant exercise! Before that exercise ended I was handed a bucket with a scoop of rocks in it. I set the bucket down and all of a sudden EVERY volunteer swarmed me yelling "nenenenenenenenene" filling my bucket with rocks, they stopped when I picked it up. The bucket thing continued for the entire weekend and it was an exercise in learning unspoken cultural rules. It got tiring having to carry a bucket of rocks around but you could get rocks taken away for doing "good" things like telling someone "DO NOT PUT YOUR BUCKET DOWN, WHAT EVER YOU DO!"
     Green team was CLEARLY the BEST! I was on green team so everyone on my team was Scandinavia bound with someone going to the Netherlands and myself. I found out that I'm part of Benelux or Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg  so that was interesting. I miss my team but we started a Facebook group so we can keep up with what everyone is doing.
     My roommate was AWESOME! She and I talked about German food and Tintin and Santa traditions in Germany and Belgium and just all sorts of stuff! I liked her a lot.
     Everyone played a game where the rules at every table were different and we couldn't talk so we had to figure out what the rules were as we switched tables. I just volunteered to lose because I didn't know how to play even when I got back to my "home table" because someone had basically invaded us and imposed their rules on the table.
     The food was pretty good. I had to eat with the Benelux group on the day we had spicy food and the person who had gone to Belgium said "You're from the Midwest aren't you?" after I made a comment about how I didn't much care for spicy foods. One of the activities there was, was this set up where a bunch of people had tables in the middle of this room and were sharing about their exchange but some had food to try! I tried a Dutch food I've heard about and LOVED IT! I did not much care for black liquorish. Haribo Pico Bolla was pretty good and so was the Korean jello thing I tried but after I tried the VERY sweet jello treat I sampled some tea and threw my taste buds into shock! I probably would have liked the tea if it hadn't been for having something bitter right after having something sweet. Oh! German food day was the last lunch we had and I was so happy because it was among my favorite meals I had plus I had a lemon bar and those are my favorite so it was epic!
     I came home Sunday and had to navigate O'Hare airport in Chicago so that was interesting. I saw a friend off on their plane. I also walked around for HOURS and eventually bought a snack and went to go chill at my gate for an hour.
     This is the VERY condensed version of this story but it's getting extremely late and I am going camping tomorrow so I will update this story plus camping when I can. Have a great day!
 

Just imagine!

     Just imagine the things that would exist in another universe! Like if there were an infinite amount of universes and everything could happen. Some of those other universes have the coolest realities ever!
     If this is true then in one universe the Doctor (Doctor Who) is real! You could travel with him through space and time! Imagine the adventures you could have! Even if it meant being stuck in modern day London often it would be better than not going on an adventure! Plus there is an "even more different" universe where the Doctor is finally a ginger, good for him.
     In a different version of this universe the world is made of chocolate! Sure that would mean that chocolate wouldn't be as awesome as it is because it would be so common, but to a resident of a non chocolate world it sounds pretty, sweet. Hehe, get it?
       Think of all the possibilities! Think of all the cool stuff that could exist in a different version of this universe. I only gave two examples but the possibilities are endless!

Seven reasons why 7 is an awesome number

1. Seven books in the Harry Potter series
2. 7 ate 9 so that means that it can take care of its own problems
3. Seven books in the Narnia series
4. Seven players on a team in Quidditch/ Muggle Quidditch
5. The song a girl can sing for her seventh birthday "Seven, seven, sweet and seven. Past six goin' on seven. One plus two, plus four makes seven. Jiminy Cricket what a gal."  (I suppose "gal" can be changed to "guy" for boys)
6.  Kevin De Bruyne's number
   
7. Harry Potter's Quidditch number

 

Kevin

 

Belgian football

     I have started taking an interest in what the rest of the world would call football. This is an exciting time to begin an interest in soccer because of the world cup and it isn't the most boring sport to watch so yay!
     After the United States lost to Belgium I knew exactly who I was cheering for and then Belgium took on Argentina. I forgot about the game until I went to check what time it started and tuned in at half time and gathered that Argentina had already scored. I was relieved when I saw that it was half time and not the end of the game but that second half was the first time I've ever gotten very excitable about any sport.
    When Kevin De Bruyne went to make a goal and missed I was almost as angry as the people in the crowd! I was yelling in my head "MR. DE BRUYNE YOU WERE SO AWESOME WHEN YOU PLAYED THE USA HOW COULD YOU MISS THAT!" Of course I've only watched two soccer games but that one really caught my interest.
     There was some point where there was a bunch of Belgians gathered around this Argentinian and the man commentating on the game was all like blah, blah, blah "A thicket of Belgian legs" and then that quote became the new best joke ever! Now those words are being thrown into any conversation that they can be thrown into.
     Belgium lost and they were showing some of the activity in the stadium and the camera caught Kevin De Bruyne (can you tell he is like the only athlete whose name I actually know?) and Mr. De Bruyne was making the saddest face! Oh my Rowling, it just about made me cry because I don't like to see people sad.  I got all sad and stuff after the game but now I've decided to support Germany and the Netherlands in the next games. I think I am wanting to support them because they are geographically close to Belgium, I think that it is unfair that Brazil has won the most and I'm mad at Argentina for beating Belgium. My reasons probably sound ridiculous but I think they are good enough to want either of those teams to win.
     Good luck Germany and the Netherlands!
 

Modern times

     When are you from? It doesn't take a madman in a blue box to ask that question. Let a teenager in a small town ask it! When are you from?
     Well I'm from a time that is following a century of unbelievable change. If you want to be all technical I am from that century. I'm from a time and place where things are still not perfect.
    We are living in a time where we don't allow people to marry just because they don't have the same sexual orientation as "The Majority". Who is "The Majority"? Why do they get any say in other people's lives?
     We are the people in charge of a time where there is disease and hunger in parts of the world while there are people who have too much money. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That cannot be right.
    This day in age is a time where terror and war still plague some places. There are people still losing their lives over differences that will always be there. What good does the fighting do anyway? Yes, countries have gained freedom for fighting but what happens when those nations face their end? Empires end just ask any ancient Roman! Everything ends and we still feel the need to be in charge of something until that end.
     We are destroying the very Earth we depend on! We crowd out life and use the land for a zoo or parking complex. We will eventually die in our own filth, I picture this happening like in the movie WALL-E except we will still be on Earth because we were too busy being greedy to get ourselves into space.
     Someone is always better than someone else and the madness on this planet goes on and on! When will we learn to "live and let live"?  Will the sun ever shine on a world where things are as close to perfect as they can be? Perhaps this is as perfect as things will get, I hope not.
     Let us all just wait for the next IPhone to come out while we make a larger hole in the ozone layer as politicians argue over how they can make more money. If we do that why not just let things stay the way they are? It seems to be working pretty well for those people who have all the money. Why not be happy with that? Wake up and smell the pollution! Let's make a change.
  We consider ourselves so modern and that we are of the best time in history. When are you from? I'm from a time in history when we still follow rules set in place by people who are from thousands of years ago. That's when we are from, the time when we could have changed the world for better, the time mankind has been wasting on arguing over money and resources. I guess not much has ever changed. I guess we aren't so modern after all.

Brains AND beauty!

     I've asked a few people the question, "lab coat or bikini?" and got some very interesting answers. I asked this because although there are things like Science Olympiads and science fairs I still feel like beauty contests get more attention.
     I don't understand why the lady with a pretty smile and ability to walk in high heels gets more attention than the girl who is able to take notes and practice lab safety. Here is a link to a commercial done by the European Commission to try to promote science to girls.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g032MPrSjFA   
I would LOVE IT if it didn't seem so much like a cosmetics commercial!
     Girls shouldn't need makeup to think that science is wonderful, with that in mind let me introduce you to some role models that I believe could get girls interested in science.

            Rosalind Franklin: used X-rays to figure out that DNA is in the shape of a double helix.

 

 

Henrietta Leavitt: Laid out the base to gage the distance of stars

              Annie Jump Cannon: Was a BIG part in developing a system

                                                     to classify stars by temperature.                                                

 

Jane Goodall: studied chimpanzee behavior

 

 

Sally Ride: First American woman in space

 

 

Valentina Tereshkova: First woman in space

 

 

Mae Jemison: First African American woman in space

 

Francine (Penny) Patterson: Taught Koko the gorilla sign language

     This list could be so much longer but I'll leave it at that. Don't go "Where is Marie Curie?" because I feel that whenever a conversation about female scientists comes up she is the only card anyone can play. Yes Marie Curie was amazing but we need to recognize other women too.
     I cannot wait for the day when girls are finally equal to boys. When women get paid the same amount as men. When everyone is equal. Who says we have to be happy with the way things are right now? 
    I understand that science isn't for everyone and that is fantastic! If everyone liked the same stuff how boring would this world be? I just wish more girls would realize that science is more than a class to sit through. You see male nurses why not female physicists?