If I had a nickel for every time someone told me to be grateful for the opportunity to attend UC Berkeley, I would be able to pay off my student loans! Yes, the exclusion of women from education is a huge global issue, but more important is my exclusion from ECON 140. From stealing enrolled students’ seats in class to taking their desks in section, it is evident through my dedication to education (and possible ignorance of enrollment policies) that I am Malala.
Leading the revolution as number 26/50, my fight against the waitlist resembles a beacon of hope for those waiting in silent agony. Sending emails into the Berkeley staff abyss with the same dedication as Malala, it is quite safe to say that a Head GSI of enrollment hates to see me coming. “Pick another class,” they say, but if my ego can’t handle getting my fake taken at Tap Haus, what makes you think I’ll drop a class I’ve been attending for 4 weeks straight?!
Similar to Malala, I stand undeterred, fighting for my right to sit in economic lectures I fully do not understand. Refreshing the Academic Guide at ungodly hours of the night, I’m haunted by the lingering giggles of the 25 students in front of me.
While you likely won’t spot me at my 9 AM post Taco Tuesday, you sure as hell will spot me in the class I have virtually no chance of getting into! They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but a mid-day lecture with iClicker just might be the death of me. There’s only so many times a woman can hear “Don’t count on getting into this class,” in this fight for enlightenment before she starts questioning if knowledge is truly power, or a capitalistic mirage hidden behind waitlists and overflowing lecture halls.
Malala battled the Taliban, I’m battling full waitlists and unit caps. Malala fought for womens’ rights, I’m fighting to fulfill my major requirements. The stakes are a tad different, but the struggle for education persists nonetheless. My fight is for all (except those enrolled in ECON 140) to dismantle these systems of oppression forcing students to sit on each others’ laps in class, and I hope to carry this burden with grace much like Malala.