Barnard Essay: Pick a Woman in History to Converse with
- Bonny Quan
- Jun 18, 2020
- 1 min read
(Prompt: Pick one woman in history or fiction to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. What would you talk about?)
If you’re reading this, it means that I have successfully submitted my application to Barnard—just with a few clicks of a button. It’s mind-blowing to think that just one generation ago, Wi-Fi, a technology that I rely on for so many things, did not exist. Without the contributions of Hedy Lamarr, I would be sending out hard copies of my college applications, hoping that they don’t get lost on their way.
An entertainer and an engineer seem to be two careers that are mutually exclusive. However, Hedy Lamarr, an accomplished scientist and actress, broke the stereotypes and proved otherwise. As an aspiring engineer, I would love to have a conversation with Ms. Lamarr to understand how she approached her career.
After watching a documentary about her life, I would love to know her feelings about being referred to as a bombshell. We would have a conversation about the changing attitudes towards women in engineering and the progress that has been made, and the progress yet to be made. I’ve heard that her father would take her for long walks while discussing the inner-workings of the printing press or streetcars, I wonder what she felt about those walks as a kid—her father must’ve been an outlet of inspiration for her growing up. I would tell her all the new technology that exists today thanks to her invention of frequency-hopping, and how the walks she took with her father inspired me to set foot on my path towards engineering.
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