Box I: Check M or F
I am female.

            I never really considered being a girl a big deal until I started liking math. I remember when I was ten years old I came home crying from school. When my mother asked me what was wrong I choked out through my tears that the other children thought I was weird because I liked calculus. They said that girls couldn't do math – we just needed to be pretty. My mom hugged me and said the other children were acting silly and I wasn't weird. She quelled my tears and helped me move ahead past my hurt feelings, but that event still left scars. Luckily they weren't too deep.
            Years later, with a slightly thicker skin, I started taking advanced mathematics courses at my state university.  I got used to the fact that after the first midterm the majority of girls would drop, while I would stick it out. Many of them switched from majoring in math to another major like biology or English. Time after time, I would come home after classes and wonder why so many girls dropped. I wondered if I would go the same route when I started college for real--attempting and then just giving up. I promised myself I wouldn't give up no matter hard it became. I refused to give up. My parents politely said it was my tenacity showing. I realized that they meant I was just plain stubborn. That's the main thing that me got through my courses--yes, I worked ridiculously hard. Yes, I was up at hours that I preferred to be sleeping through, but I was driven.  I refused to be swayed by stereotypical opinions of the mental capabilities of my sex. I remembered that my mother was persuaded by her guidance counselor in high school against taking chemistry--she didn't need it because she was a girl. And I kept remembering what those children said to me when I was ten, “Girls can't do math. That's silly.” Like hell they can't.

Box II: List your ethnicity
I am African-American.

            Negro. Nigger. Colored person. Black. So many terms to describe the people in such a large and diverse ethnic group.
            I've never liked the term black. It has so many negative historical connotations. And furthermore it's not even clearly defined. It's like a blanket term for those who do not wish to look beyond stereotypes. In pop culture, the term “black” is used in multiple contexts. It is generically used to describe a dark, inky color. It is also used to describe people of African descent.  But if black is used to define people of African descent, why do I rarely hear people refer to people of Egyptian descent as black. Is it because a portion of them have very light skin and don't look--for a lack of a better word-- stereotypically black?
            Then there's the use of the word to define parts of pop culture--or in some cases to stereotype it. Stereotypes that are even promoted by the African-American community. This drives me up wall. Large portions of the African-American community assume that if you're “black” you like or do certain things. Your music of choice is hip-hop and rap. You want to look “gangsta” with outrageously baggy jeans, a baseball cap tilted to the side, and large diamond stud earrings.  You commonly speak in slang and rap stars are your idols. Oh, and if you want to deviate from this “norm” and do something like succeed in academics you're trying to act “white”.
            Quite frankly, I don't care. I never cared for hip-hop or rap. It all seems to be permutations of the same theme – the theme of getting rich, being violent (usually towards women,) and/or having sex. I tend to dress neatly so people will take me seriously. I use proper English and I do enjoy academics. Now, if that means I'm acting “white” so be it. Maybe if the African-American community stopped being concerned about acting “white” they wouldn't be scratching their heads, wondering why more African-Americans aren't pursing careers in math and science.
            Part of the problem is how the media portrays African Americans. We always see on television how so and so made the winning catch in some football game or which actor won an Oscar or musician won a Grammy. But how often do we see someone praised publicly for their academic achievements.  The answer is very rarely. This prevents kids from having a role model who exemplifies academic success. This resonates even more in the African-American community, which always seems to be more concerned in publicizing the next rapper or Michael Jordan, rather then the next Ben Carson. Well, I am pursuing math and science and if that means “I'm acting white”, I'm sure as hell don't want to act “black.”

Box III: Give your religious affiliation
I am Muslim.

            I practice a religion that many people believe is going to blow the world up. Yet, those same people do not make any effort to try and see what the religion is about. Instead many people believe that the actions of a small percentage of Muslims indicate the mindset of all 1.3 billion of them.
             I am not a terrorist. I am not a fanatic. I do not hate Jews, nor Christians, nor even atheists and a good majority of my friends from home and here at MIT have different religious beliefs (or not at all) than mine. Just because I'm Muslim does not mean I am intolerant of other’s beliefs.
            Then there's the whole clothing issue, yes, I wear a hijab--piece of fabric--over my head and no, it will not eat you. I choose to wear it out as an act of faith not because I'm horribly oppressed and my father beats me into submission. It's amazing that people actually feel threatened if you're not showing skin or showing off your physical assets. Since when is being oppressed defined by what you wear! They seem to ignore the (ever so minor) fact that when Christian women were primarily uneducated and themselves and anything they had were considered property their husbands. During that same time Muslim women were able to (and did!) run businesses and pursue education. And you know those little things called property rights, not only were Muslim women allowed to own property even when they were married, but when they got married it wasn't the girls family that paid the groom a dowry it was the other way around. The groom had to pay the bride's family a dowry and it had to be to the bride's liking! If for some reason the couple divorced, the girl had the choice of keeping the dowry, and was able to retain custody of her children and remarry if she so desired.
            Yet, in spite of all that, many people still say Islam oppresses women. In my opinion, the religion does not oppress people, but rather, it is the culture that the religion is being practiced in that is doing the oppressing. This is true in a majority of Arab countries where the culture has not been supportive of women rights. Unfortunately few people wish to look beyond what is portrayed on the news. No one asks me “Why do you wear a scarf? Why do you [supposedly] hate Jews? Why are women oppressed?” Instead, people are more likely to think “Oh, that poor oppressed person.” Don't they realize that the most idiotic question is the one that's never asked?
I am Me
            Well, guess what? I am more than just a statistic. Yes, I am female. Yes, I am African-American. Yes, I am a Muslim. But I am so much more than the stereotypes placed upon me.  Stereotypes are used to generalize society, but as we can see, they are wrong. People are not just labels, words, or phrases.  When we generalize a section of society, we ignore the personalities underneath the façade of conformity.  We shed the individuality that makes us unique.  By accepting the stereotypes we are rejecting the right to have our own individuality and we all know that we can't all be short little African-American Muslim girls.