Retrospec

Mikleo Lefay 3/14/2017 near Birch Hills

Hello, everyone. Hope all the students out there are enjoying their Spring Break (I certainly am). Since it's Women's History Month, I thought I'd give a few interesting facts. Jin Xing (1967 - present) is a Chinese trans woman who knows five languages, and she's a famous ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, actress, talk show host, and owner of the Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre, which is a contemporary dance company. She's also famous for being outspoken in her contempt for a trend in Chinese media to try dramatizing and exploiting people's pain. She does amazing work in China, so I certainly recommend checking her out if you're at all interested. Ada Lovelace (1815 - 1852) was the first programmer. At 17, she speculated that the "Analytical Engine," a very rudimentary computer, could potentially do more than just basic mathematical functions. Katherine Johnson (1918 - present) is an African-American woman who plotted the trajectory for the Apollo 11 flight to the moon and for Mike Shepard, the first man in space. Now that she's retired, she teaches at a university and encourages her students into pursuing the science and technology fields. Ellen Ochoa (1958 - present) became the first Hispanic woman in space. She flew on the Discovery for a nine-day mission, and later became the first Hispanic and second woman to be the director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. I haven't even scratched the surface of the contributions women around the world have made. If you've got the time, I absolutely recommend taking a look at what countless other women have done and are doing. Their hard work shouldn't be forgotten or overshadowed.