Girl Rising

     The common read for Saint Michael's College Education Department for the 2018-2019 academic year was Girl Rising by Tanya Lee Stone. This book is based on a movie that was made to bring awareness to educational injustice of young ladies around the world. Saint Michael's College put on three events that were surrounding main themes of the book. These events included a showing of the movie, an author talk, and teaching episode given by the graduate students at the college. I watched the film and took away many ideas and themes from the movie.
     Something that was very interesting about this book is that it influenced by the movie. When the film came out, it gained a good amount of popularity and sparked Tanya Lee Stone's interest. She then wrote a book that tells the accounts of the girls around the world and overall statistics about education in less fortunate parts of the world. The events that happened on campus were to help raise awareness of these educational injustices.
     The first event was the showing of the film. This is where students and faculty could gather and watch this very moving and empowering movie about the girls. The second event was the author speak with Tanya Lee Stone, where she was able to talk about her creation of the book and what inspired her. The third event was led by a group of graduate students at Saint Michael's College that was focused around educational injustice and empowering women. I was not able to personally attend any of the events, but I did watch the film in my own time.
    I had actually already seen the film during my first year at Saint Michael's College. I watched it in my first year seminar. This seminar was focused on personal narratives and creating your own personal philosophy through a narrative of your life or event. Our professor showed the film in bits and pieces, but it still had an enormous impact. I even feel like I took more out of it by watching it in segments because it gave me time to really dig deep and think about each girls story. I remember I was always very moved by what happened in the film but I was watching it in the view point of personal narratives. When I rewatched it this year, I was watching it with the lens of a educator. I noticed this time while viewing the film that I was often angered because I could not wrap my head around the fact that the girls who were striving for an education were denied so many times. I could not understand why willing children who are eager to learn were being denied the right that I grew up with. I still felt a great deal of empathy for the girls, but the educational systems that were available to them infuriated me.
   This movie also made me take for granted all that I was given as a child. I was brought to school each day, where I had motivated teachers work with me all day to learn new concepts. I had been in some sort of educational setting for my entire life and I never thought about how grateful I am. I just figured that every one has the same rights as me. There were days I remember playing sick so I wouldn't have to go to school just because I did not want to. This never bothered me. After watching this film, my views were  completely changed. I never took my education for granted afterwards and I have spread that message onto others. I have let others know how blessed and lucky we are to be getting the education we are since there are so many girls that never go to school. I tell them about the girls who would do just about anything to learn how to read and write. There is never a day now that I take for granted what I have gotten to experience through different educational programs, since thousands of other eager young women do not receive the same right.
    This book and events tie closely to Saint Michael's College Education Department Mission Statement which states, "Our graduates are change agents committed to social justice and sustainability". When you unpack this pillar of the mission statement, it focuses on the cultural awareness and equity for all. This is important for future educators to carry with them throughout their careers since we will be working with students of all different ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. We need to keep this in mind every time that we walk into a classroom in order for us to understand that no two students are the same and each have a wide array of needs. It is also important for educators to teach students about what is happening in other parts of the world and explain how fortunate they are to receive their education, since many children have to fight for that right.
    This novel is something that I believe should be brought into middle/ high school curriculum. I believe that students should also learned about educational injustice that still follows us to this day and learn how they can help make a change and impact another students life.