I had the opportunity to attend the Texas Women in Higher Education (TWHE) conference last week. I always feel encouraged and motivated when I hear TWHE speakers and have the chance to meet female colleagues in other colleges and universities. There were young women, older women and women around my age in similar and vastly different phases of life. We came from 2-year and 4-year colleges, universities and medical schools. It was refreshing to connect with peers from around the state.

Even though it was encouraging to attend the conference, I still feel awkward sometimes – even around other women – because of my personal situation and family dynamic. I feel like a mold breaker, and I am … I have vented before about the “unspoken taboo” of having more than two children while pursuing a career in academia. Another mold that I’m in the process of cracking open is the percentage of community college students who go on to earn doctorate degrees.

I read an article in the past year that placed the figure at two percent, but in the course of trying to locate that same statistic, I came across another one that said one in five (20%) of doctorate recipients in 2009-10 attended a community college, at some point. That’s more encouraging, but it’s still a category that I’d like to bust open.

With those goals in mind, here’s my poem (nonet style) for this week:

What am I? I am a mold breaker
I cannot be put in a box —
An achiever, a leader
Limits stretch and expand —
I am capable
I have bold dreams
Nothing will
Hold me
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