Political Science: A young girl's dream by Emmanuela

Emmanuela's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2024 scholarship contest

  • Rank:
  • 0 Votes
Emmanuela
Vote for my essay with a tweet!
Embed

Political Science: A young girl's dream by Emmanuela - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Before 2019, I was completely unaware and unexposed to news coverage and public discourse regarding sexual violence. It was during this year, in my theater class, that a girl brought up the new documentary: Surviving R. Kelly. The whole class was deeply discussing their thoughts regarding the documentary, and I was left feeling a bit out of touch. A classmate filled me in with what I was missing and I was very intrigued. This was an admired singer, especially in the black community, who sexually and emotionally abused young women over the years. In this space, I learned of the ‘Me Too’ movement. Once class discussions ended, I went home to conduct my research.

I was astonished by the positive outcomes of the ‘Me Too’ movement. Growing up, I was taught that my early developed ‘look’ could attract the wrong attention. This concept regarding my physique was drilled into me because some of my family members experienced sexual abuse first-hand. But the transgressions were never passed on to police or higher officials because the issue, in general, was never taken seriously enough. As a result, I grew up thinking no one cared about this issue. It was very odd, being warned about this regularly as a child. Nonetheless, I ultimately experienced advances of harassment, touching, and comments from the older crowd. These interactions made me understand the purpose of my teachings. Learning of a movement intended to publicize the effects of sexual violence with women’s powerful testimonies was a wake-up call to me; I realized maybe survivors can get the justice they deserve.
I eventually took it upon myself to watch the R. Kelly documentary to educate myself more on this topic. As I listened more to survivors describing their assault and the lack of justice they received, I began to see more of family and even myself in them. It made me emotional. The shame and loneliness that was felt after their assaults were overwhelming. It can’t be fully understood by people who haven’t experienced it for themselves.

After watching this documentary and getting engaged with the movement, it made me realize how important this all was to my life. I had repeatedly ignored this aspect of my existence: pushing and burying these memories without coping, causing hurt in a way I never fully appreciated. But these powerful women in the movement and documentary demonstrated that I should not be ashamed of my story. I ultimately came to terms that ignoring this issue had to stop immediately: I had ignored the harm done to my family members and myself. That left me to wonder how many people feel silenced and without justice. I wanted to help stop that - that quiet suffering. So, I researched actual cases of ladies and men who have tried over the years to make a viable legal case based on their sexual violence but failed to obtain justice. After many hours of research and consideration, I wondered if I could become a lawyer and work on these cases. I could help others heal.

I want to channel this dream into action and become a prosecutor who handles cases challenging sexual violence. I understand that I won’t only handle those sorts of cases, which I don’t mind. Accordingly, I’ve taken a keen interest in criminal cases. I want to take Political Science as a major in college. Political science is a well-informed major in the government’s lawmaking and strategies that will be insightful for me to apply in my dream career. To bring awareness to sexual assaults, I want to enrich myself with the origin of government formation and politics. I’ll be able to see how society was a huge factor in masses of regulations in the past to use that information to aid cases I’ll be defending my client; it can act as my precedent. This will help me from a societal standpoint and determine the proper way to handle my goal. I want to bring more awareness to my situation and let future clients know that you aren’t a victim, but a survivor that deserves justice.

Votes