Choose your Barbie by Hannah

Choose your Barbie by Hannah - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Veterinarian. Marine biologist. Teacher. Actor. Lawyer. Barbie was all of those things… why can’t I be? The cultural grasp that Barbie has on every little girl has altered the way we perceive our roles as women. We want to be strong. We become women who want to make a professional name for themselves. The little girls of the world dream of becoming a space doctor who also owns a bakery. They want to be Barbie. I wanted to be Barbie.
I never knew exactly what I wanted to be growing up. I had a new occupation every month. Oscillating between veterinarian, actor, and teacher, I was clueless. Around the age of 12, a movie about a dolphin with a prosthetic tail changed my life. The movie was called Dolphin Tale. The story follows a rescue team from the Clearwater Marine Hospital in Florida who helps save a dolphin, whom they named Winter. Eventually, the little boy who found Winter on the shore helps save her life. The impact the boy had on marine wildlife inspired me to become a marine biologist. I was invested in this story. I would go to the Clearwater Marine Hospital website every day after school and watch the dolphins in their enclosures. I learned the ups and downs of marine biology, especially how to enter the field. I was so excited to become a marine biologist.
Then, my family went on a trip to Puerto Rico. Long story short… I was deeply terrified of the ocean. It did not bode well for me that you have to work near, and in, an ocean to be a marine biologist. At 14, entering high school, I had no idea what Barbie I wanted to be. I felt like I would never be able to decide, which created a loss of hope for me. I had spent 6 years dreaming of becoming a marine biologist. Now, I was under the impression that any career choice I decided on could change in a matter of seconds. This crisis left me thinking: What Barbie am I? Who am I?
My mom is a lawyer and growing up she had always been the Barbie that I looked up to. After 2020 and the COVID pandemic, the world seemed more condensed. Entering high school in 2020, meant that I was becoming more socially and politically aware. The relations between international countries were always interesting to me, but it made sense that 12-year-old me wasn’t itching to become a lawyer. Now, as I have gradually become more aware of my surroundings, I have decided to go to college to become a lawyer. I want to use my intended major in international relations to help people coming to the US to escape famine, poverty, and war. I know that I want to be a lawyer because my mom has shown me the ups and downs of being a woman-in-law. However, coming to this conclusion was not possible without first being disappointed. I changed my mind about being a marine biologist Barbie because I was always meant to be a lawyer Barbie.