Starting in about first grade, teachers begin asking what you want to be when you grow up. You draw it on craft papers and sprinkle some glitter on it.
Parents keep the papers every year, remarking on the changes each year of childhood brings to the answers.
For little girls, it ranges from princess, to ballerina, to mommy, to nurse, teacher and the list goes on.
For me, ever since I can remember, I've loved to write and argue, so I decided I wanted to become an attorney when I grew up.
Lawyer started to be the answer written in crayons and sprinkled with glitter.
I've always been focused and set in my plan; so the other day, a conversation with a friend threw me for a loop.
We were discussing my future plans and what law schools I was applying to in the fall. My friend then asked me if I planned to marry my long-term boyfriend during law school. He remarked that my boyfriend would have been working for two years when I finally graduate and would be financially stable. He then asked: "So if you get married during law school, would you just quit and let him be the breadwinner?"
I was shocked.
I never considered giving up my dream for someone else, let alone relying on a person to be my sole source of income. I told one of my girlfriends about the conversation, and she told me it made sense.
"Just go to school and get an MRS degree, it's easy."
OK, I had never even heard about an MRS degree until my freshmen year.
I was walking past one of the engineering buildings when I saw a group of girls huddled by one of the entrances. I soon found out they were waiting for guys to come out; they were waiting for future husbands.
"Oh they're just going to get their MRS degree and find an engineer to marry," people would say as if it wasn't a shock.
I know they're not alone. I see on Facebook and Twitter that many girls my age are only going to school to find a husband -- someone to love them, take care of them and pay for the lifestyle that suits them.
In a society where divorce occurs in about 40 to 50 percent of marriages, it's impractical to rely solely on a man to support you.
I understand some women want to be a mother and stay at home, and that is a full time job. But if you're only going to school to find a husband, you're wasting your time, and you're wasting money.
I was studying the Constitution for one of my tests, and I realized all of the hard work that our women predecessors put into making the 19th amendment a reality.
I would love to see how those women would react to see the girls today who go to school to become gold diggers.
Women have an unlimited amount of doors open to them now. Sure, we don't always have the same salary as men, but we are not blatantly denied access because of our sex.
It's also discriminating for a woman to seek out men who are only engineers, doctors or architects. They have always heard mom's telling them to marry a doctor; they'll take care of you.
By settling for an MRS degree, you're selling yourself short. The cliche saying is true, when it comes to your education, "you don't need a man."
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