Planned Parenthood and Me

I have been exceedingly lucky in my life to have been raised by strong women who believe in the power of being a strong woman. While they each had their own strengths, they truly believed in the autonomy of self and the freedom to make one's own choices. My home was always sex positive and open, and I am thankful for that.

However, no matter how sure I felt about my own body, sexuality, and self, there was something missing. The lack of proper health education, particularly sex education, in my upbringing, combined with the absense of self-esteem (all too normal, in this day and age, for adolescents) led me into an abusive relationship with an older man at the age of sixteen. After that relationship ended, swearing I wouldn't tell anyone, I carried that burden around with me for years, always questioning why I wasn't "good enough" or "smart enough" to have gotten out of that. In my senior year of high school, Planned Parenthood's "Peer Education" program began to disseminate the information invaluable to a growing teen, and helped me cope with my past.

Years later, I realized it wasn't a problem with me that led me into that relationship, but also a problem with the system. I did not have a network at school to whom I could tell my deepest secret. The health classes, which focused on abstaining from drugs, alcohol, and sex, did not help me develop confidence and self-esteem, and did not teach me how to say "no". In University I began a teacher training program, focusing on history and ethics/religion, but took more and more courses in the fields of sexuality, women's health, and sociology. It is my goal to pursue a Masters of Public Health in Adolescent Health/Sexuality, and to promote proper health and sex education within schools and other institutions.

It also shocks me how little even "educated" people know about contraceptive usage and anatomy. Since coming out as a future sex educator, I have had many friends come to me, in confidence, asking basic questions about sex, health, or anatomy, that I find disturbing for people in their mid-twenties. I do not blame them, however-- after all, they are seeking to correct misinformation from their schooling-- but rather the teachers, guardians, and institutions who continue to pass on such wrong data. That is something I seek to change, and am thankful that Planned Parenthood has been doing that for ages.

Working at Planned Parenthood is a way for me to give back, and a way for me to take part in a larger public health measure. I believe, above all, in the value of proper education, caring teachers and mentors, and trust. Thankfully, so does Planned Parenthood.