I am an aspiring journalist, a brazen feminist, and a proud speaker. I am 5’2, a freshman in college, so my intensity is packed into a fun-sized package. Since my outward appearance is “cute” or innocent looking, I am hardly ever taken seriously. In my first weeks at Willamette University, I was “mansplained” repeatedly. This, I had always assumed, was an urban myth. Sure, it happened some places but never in the liberal bubble of the pacific northwest. As the only freshman on the newspaper staff, I was shocked when a fellow classmate “took the time” to explain to me how to draft a professional email. This boy over the span of fifteen minutes “taught” me how to schedule an interview and repeatedly offered to “look over my article if I needed help.” I have worked for five different papers, conducted hundreds of interviews and worked in newspaper offices for the past three years. I’ve dealt with countless old newspaper men not taking me seriously, and overcame the challenge. Yet, despite all this, an unqualified bio-chem major “taught me” how to draft an email.
