Tonight was the annual leadership dinner, an event that I’ve attended every year I’ve been at school. Although the speeches are redundant, the awards never lose their novelty. It’s the time when students are recognized for their efforts – flyers, food orders, rehearsals, meetings, mass emails, budget requests, etc. Anyone can thrive academically, but to do that and contribute to the student life of the campus is a different story. There were producers, choreographers, negotiators, editors, and advocates present – heads of performance groups, Student government, publications, and cultural organizations. These are future professionals, future leaders, future mothers. Women who will change the world for the better.

Now I sound like an Admissions brochure when I say this, but I mean it. You don’t know the value of attending a women’s college until you go to one and you don’t quite appreciate it until you know its history. Barnard was founded in 1889 and was named for Columbia University’s 10th President, Frederick A.P. Barnard. Not many people are aware of this fact, but Columbia was the last Ivy League school to go co-ed and that didn’t happen until 1983. Nineteen-eighty-freakin-three.

Now there are tons of streotypes surrounding women’s colleges (I’ve heard them all), but they’re myths. Sorry to disappoint, but we don’t all just get naked during floor meetings and make out. We’re accepting of the queer community (diversity in general), but that doesn’t mean we’re bound to graduate as a class of 550 lesbians. Sure we promote feminism, but what that really means to us is asserting ourselves. We’re not raging Amazon women who tear the loins off of every male we encounter. We speak our minds and hold our own against any guy up for the challenge. As far as our sexuality, please, don’t get me started. Just because we dish out free condoms and lube in the entrances of our dormitories doesn’t mean we’re “easy” or “sluts”. We embrace our sexuality, safe sex, and aren’t afraid to get what we want in the same way guys are praised for it on a daily basis.

Don’t stereotype us for what you want us to be. Recognize us for who we are – women who aren’t afraid to take risks, who grab life by the balls, and who are bold enough to say, “Let’s do it,” regardless of what “it” is. We may not know everything, but we leave here with a greater understanding of who we are and the idea that we can do anything we want to.

Standing on stage tonight, the recipient of Barnard’s prestigious Bear Pin Award, I thought about recognition and how as much as it comes from others, it really needs to come from yourself. I think it was Anna Quindlen, author, Newsweek columnist and Barnard Trustee who said, “At Barnard, I learned to major in unafraid.” I wish I could preserve this statement and the energy of tonight’s assembly because the past few weeks for me have been scary. I lost sight of what I’m capable of; I’ve been blindfolded by uncertainty. Since when has this been me?

Tonight was so important, not only because of the award I was receiving, but because I was reminded of why I came to this school and why I should be determined to leave its gates standing upright rather than crawling. I take pride in the fact that I’m part of a tradition of leadership, and most of all, a tradition of strong, beautiful women who just refuse to go down without a fight.