How Women Rocked 2020

By Defne

2020 might not have been so bad after all. Well, it was. But there might have been some positive things in there too, we just have to look for it. Women, for instance, have leaped higher than they ever have this year, despite the difficulties they face.

Let’s take Maya Gabeira. She’s a Brazilian woman who’s broken a record this year for the world’s largest wave surfed in 2020. How high? It was 24.5 yards high – or 73.5 feet – or 882 inches – or, if you want to be very explicit, 22,402.8 millimeters. Wow, that is really high!

If you break a world record, you need to not only be creative and cunning, but also, especially if you’re a woman, brave and strong willed. And if you’re running for vice president, you need to be all these things.

Kamala Harris got elected for vice president only last November. As you might remember, most of us were holding onto our seats as we waited for the votes to be counted, uncounted, and recounted again. When the votes were finally counted, uncounted, and recounted, many women celebrated. Because Kamala Harris is the first vice president to be black and a woman, it was another leap for women all around the world.

If you’re feeling like kids can’t break records, or change the world, you’re wrong. Gitanjali Rao did both of these things. She’s an inventor, author, and scientist – only at the age of 15! She changed the world in many ways: making a machine that measures the amount of lead (a toxic chemical) using bluetooth, an artificial intelligence app called Kindly that can detect cyberbullying, and some other inventions that make a positive impact on our world. And she’s broken a record for youngest kid to get on the cover of the Times magazine.

So, even with the pandemic, 2020 might've not been too bad. Women have switched on the light in a dark room for us, despite the darkness in their own room, which they’ve learned to endure. We could give back to them, however indirectly: we could just give back to them by being inspired by them. All we need is the qualities these women have: kindness, bravery, integrity, and hope, and turn 2021 in the right direction.