By late March, I was well settled into the semester and enjoying, above all others, my Women Studies class. Andi Scanlon was very fair and engaging, and it was my only college course thus far that centered around open discussion rather than being dominated by frenetic note taking, memorization and the dreaded multiple-choice tests. Through this class engagement, I was learning more here than any other class.
As my prior class was only in the next building I was often early and usually seated and talking with a classmate or two until Andi began the discussion.
On this late March morning, after the traditional, "goodmorning", she began with "Our guest today is a woman who, with a duel bachelor's degree in architecture and sociology from American University and an advanced degree in Urban and Community Planning from Georgetown, started a local architecture firm in the spare bedroom of an apartment she was renting in the area. I know first-hand as she was the roommate of my girlfriend at the time. In 5 years, she has expanded her firm to be one of the largest commercial and residential architecture firms in the region. She employs over 180 architects, planners, engineers and technicians, 90% of whom are highly qualified, and as I have personally witnessed, highly satisfied women. You have likely seen her company sign on buildings, vehicles, jobsites, and charity events all over the region and even on campus with projects as little as house additions to large commercial buildings and entire town centers. Class, please welcome Alexa Matri, of Matri-Architecture, Inc."
The classroom gave a polite applause as Alexa emerged from the front row of the classroom, professionally dressed in a pale pink silk blouse, black pencil skirt and black peep toe pumps with pale pink toenails peeking through the open toes.
I sat dumbfounded. Jaw wide open. In utter awe. She's been sitting here? One row in front of me? I must have missed her entrance while I was chatting away. How could I have missed that stunning jet-black hair?! She stood and turned, facing the class with that beautiful confidence I so admired when we met outside the fraternity house. As she scanned the applauding classroom, she gave a few knowing nods, waves and hellos. When she saw me, she paused. Our eyes locked. Her smile grew even more confident as her eyes seemed to light up with, I don't know, with something. Satisfaction maybe? After what felt like an eternity, her deep brown eyes latching on to every morsel of my soul, she quickly completed her scan and began, "I am so honored to be before you today. I must admit that, while it was not soooo long ago I was on your side of the lecture hall, I'm a little out of practice speaking to a group of students. A group of interested citizens or a boardroom full of bullish developers and stakeholders is child's play compared to this. So, I implore that you go easy on me here." She winked and smiled as the class sent back an accepting chuckle.
Alexa then gave a brief and very revealing history of herself and how she went from a homeless teenage punk rocker in Detroit and made her way literally by boxcar hopping to DC with no money, no goals, no place to stay. After living on the floors of rat-infested condemned buildings, coming dangerously close to falling victim to human trafficking and a life of drugs and prostitution, and with the help of a very welcoming community, Alexa realized that she deserved better, and told the class how she pulled herself together and became the person she is today.
Using that history as the foundation for dialog, she tasked us with a discussion about women in community and outreach to populations of women in need, as she once was. She discussed programs nationwide and even regionally that liberate women from abusive relationships including spousal abuse, human trafficking, and even incestual abuse, and offer them opportunities and support, to promote better self-esteem and a positive path forward. We discussed careers for women that are traditionally male, like engineers, plumbers, electricians, carpentry, construction, and even professional sports, and the pay disparity that women face, particularly in these fields.
YOU ARE READING
FemTopia, Where Periwinkle Blooms
RomantikPatrick Archer is a college man who loses everything, bottoms out, then through an incidental encounter, and coincidental re-encounters, finds a utopian life in a FemTopian world. Some of the names of the places have been changed, but it wouldn't ta...
