A lesson of courage and determination!
Posted on July 20, 2021 by Zoe Massoudi, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
How courage and perseverance together can make history.
Two hundred years ago, Elizabeth Blackwell was rejected by every medical school she applied to because she was a woman. The one school, Geneva Medical College in New York admitted her after the majority of male students at that time voted to accept her, not because they believed in her, but because they found it funny to have a woman at medical school. They were persuaded that she won’t make it through and she won’t be good enough. Funny enough not only Blackwell made it through, but she also graduated at top of her class!
During her studies, she didn’t have the chance to study with anyone, wasn’t permitted using the library or train like her male fellow students, she didn’t even know where to buy the books. But very soon she found her way and one by one overcame the roadblocks on her path and finally turned those obstacles into history!
On January 23, 1849, Blackwell became the first woman to achieve a medical degree in the United States. The local press reported her graduation favorably, and when the dean, Dr. Charles Lee, conferred her degree, he stood up and bowed to her.
This is a great example of courage, perseverance, and determination!
On the pathway toward achievement, there are always plenty of inward and outward roadblocks such as your own thoughts and emotions, your previous experiences, your beliefs, etc., or simply the people around you; those who won’t embrace your ideas and visions while rejecting them without any concrete reason.
It is clear that it takes a great amount of courage, but pursuing our goals with perseverance, is what we need to do to make history. That is what the eminent sages and game-changers did in the past while paving the path for us.
