Introduction

Hello my name is Gerri and this is my junior year at UCF. I am seeking a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, Majoring in Art History and Humanities and minoring in Woman’s Studies. I love cooking and gardening, hiking, and sailing.  I am not your normal college student but I have noticed that there are quite a number of 50 + year old students on campus. It’s great to see that people are going back to school and starting a new chapter in their lives. I am a wife, daughter, mother, sister, and aunt and soon to be grandma that want to be a mentor to young girls to help them see that life is more than what TV and Magazines shows and how to succeed in life  becoming  strong and independent.

I am interested in woman and girl studies so that I can use the experience I have in living life with the knowledge that I will acquire through these classes to help relate with girls. Raising two strong young men to respect woman was an accomplishment that I am very proud of and enjoy their success in their personal relationships with strong young woman. My oldest son is married to a strong independent woman that he respects and supports in all of her interests and endeavors.   

I believe that popular culture strongly affects the way girls think of their bodies and their self- esteem. They seem to be afraid to be themselves for fear that they will not fit in or belong in the same group as their peers. 

Growing up in a disconnected family I learned the majority of things from classmates instead of from a strong female that I believe would have made a significant difference in the way I viewed myself and developed my self-esteem. Due to a lack of that strong female in my life it took a long time for me to understand what I was capable of doing with my life. That old saying comes to mind “ If only I knew than, what I know now”. But saying that I still wouldn’t change the last 30 years of my life. I now have a strong family and believe that my boys have a strong female in their lives that has made a difference in the way the view themselves and the value of the woman in their life.