At this point in my life I would have to say that I am pleased with being a girl. I love having long hair (natural blonde, I might add), being able to wear makeup, dressing up for formals, and gossiping with my sorority sisters. When I was younger and I had a little brother I wondered why I couldn’t do some of the stuff he could. I was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL so the summers were excruciatingly hot and my mom wouldn’t let me run around without a shirt on. Why not, I asked? My brother Kenneth could do it. That’s when I first heard the phrase “because you’re a girl.” How annoying not to be able to do something just because you are a girl. A lot of people reading this webpage can probably understand what I am saying.

A couple of days ago in my Marriage and family class (which I am taking for a social science requirement) the teacher was saying that girls aren’t supposed to do as well as boys in math. This ticked me off. If any of my friends are reading this entry they are going to laugh when I say this, but I think was pretty good at math. I remember in first grade I was in the middle group of three math groups and I was determined to prove to my teacher that I belonged in the upper group. Guess what? I did it. From then on math was my favorite subject in school. I wasn’t staffed gifted until I was a sophomore at Lincoln High School so I lagged behind some of the kids in my grade in math throughout middle and high school. When I was in eighth grade at Cobb Middle School I first competed in Mu Alpha Theta math competitions in the Algebra I category. I loved it. I was very involved in that organization in high school and I got several trophies at the local, state, and national levels. As a senior I got a 4 out of 5 on my Calculus BC Advanced Placement examination. Now tell me that I wasn’t supposed to do well in math! (Considering that my major is aerospace engineering my love for math serves its purpose.)

I have had the discussion with both guys and girls wondering which gender would we rather be. I can’t hesitate to say that I love being a girl. Several reasons come to mind. 1) Seeing the way a guy looks at you when you dress up for a formal occasion is lots of fun. Looking at them dressed up is about as much fun. 2) Getting away with not performing heavy labor when a guy is around to do it for you is a definite plus! However I hate it when a guy assumes that you can’t do something. I am certainly not a complete wimp (most of the time) so I get angry when a guy won’t let me do something “because I am a girl.” Note to all males reading this: DON’T EVER DO THAT! At least not with me around. 3) Shopping is a perfectly acceptable pastime. I admit that I love to shop, but not all the time. Having clothes that I like is always a comfort and I love shoes. I remember my friend Danny telling me that I went to the mall too much in high school. Maybe he was right, but it seemed that every time I talked to him I was either just back from the mall or on my way out the door to go there. 4) When you insist to pay for dinner or a date the guy thinks that you are really nice. I haven’t been on too many dates in the past several years due to the fact that I had a boyfriend, but even then I at least paid for myself. Now when Stuart and I go to dinner and I pay it makes me look good. (Stu, if you are reading this I know you are going to be laughing by now.)

There are hundreds of other good reasons. As soon as I can come up with some more I will add them to later entries. If you will excuse me, thie GIRL is going to the beach tomorrow and needs her beauty sleep. She also needs to make lunch so she won't starve!