“Make smart choices, do the right thing.”

“Be a good friend, you have so much to offer.”

“Be who you are, you’re perfect in my eyes.”

I come from a world

where positivity remains the single personality a daughter should have,

where expectations grow beyond straight As and outrunning competition,

where what people see me doing defines the people I come from. 

I come from a world

where Sunday literature and conversations with our Father is mandatory,

where right exists and wrong does not,

where what I do right defines the people I come from. 

I come from a world 

that is led by a single, stronger gender of our kind,

where the women do the dishes and clean the houses because it’s what they do,

where what career I do defines the people I come from.

I come from a world

that I do not want to be a part of,

the people I come from do not tell me who I am,

the way I want to do things should be my own choice.

I will

pursue the mathematics and sciences I love,

become a female engineer and overpower the 1.5 million men, 

do what needs to be done to make where I come from a better place, that's who I am.

I will

believe what I want to believe, and do what I want to do,

go to Sunday School when I want to and learn about what I want,

make wrong choices and not get judged for it, because, there is wrong, that’s who I am. 

I will 

accept the people in my life as all important pieces,

support my friends and family for doing what they love and following their own paths,

look after my favorite people and protect them from the world I come from, that’s who I am. 

In my world, 

I will make smart choices,

I will do the right thing,

I will be a good friend,

I will offer what I can, 

I will be who I am,

I will be me.

This is my own world, I decide where I come from.