Imagine a woman some twenty years ago in Bangladesh. Chances are, the most successful women you could think of were highly ambitious and promising individuals progressing rapidly in their respective fields, but all these promises and ambitions came with a deadline. Most of these women could never keep pursuing their dreams as they kept reaching further and further into “womanhood”.

Being born into a social structure that hinges on the men being the torch bearers of the society and the women being nothing but their support systems, it is pretty obvious that a woman with dreams would not be anything more than a burden. For most women, it is imperative to start thinking about wedlock and motherhood immediately after graduation. Women usually give up on their hopes of being anything more, because the society leads them into believing that this marriage and this family-life gives them some form of security from the dark world outside.

Rebecca Shafee seemed to be echoing the same sentiments when she said in a BTV debate final speech representing Holy Cross College. “I am not overambitious, I don’t hold the rights to be so. I am but a simple girl, afraid of the world around me. And I am just fine.”

Now imagine a woman some twenty years ago, already being in the BTV debate finals.

Who is Rebecca Shafee? Recently a video of her final debate speech went viral on Facebook. She speaks of herself, a feeble and fragile being, to whom the system is all there is to believe in. Coming from a society that views women raising their voices to be problematic; in her world, she was the only speaker, and the rest of the world was her audience.

Glories abroad

What most people do not know is what she proceeded on to doing after this final. She set on a path to destroy all possible gender norms. In a world where women are taught to be submissive, this woman chose to cling on to her dreams and not give in to anything short of greatness.

She started off by getting a BS degree from the California Institute of Technology on Physics. She then proceeded on to doing her PhD from Harvard University on Astrophysics, during which she spent her time researching on the measurements of black hole spin. She is currently involved with Harvard Medical School and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in genetics.

Although Rebecca had her sights set on astrophysics for undergrad, she went on to pursuing further education on medical science for postdoctoral. She has worked on neuroscience for several years and is currently researching on the relationship between genetic variants and neuropsychiatric disorders.

She has won several awards for her dedication in various scientific fields, most of which my undergrad engineer brain is yet to grasp. She has worked as a Teaching Assistant for Caltech and is currently engaged with Harvard as a Teaching Fellow.

The Apt Role Model

With too many publications and recitations to be named within the span of this article, Rebecca is an idol for the thousands of girls without a voice in Bangladesh. She came from a country so heavily patriarchic and eastern, and ended up showing the world what women are capable of. Rebecca is an inspiration. She is visible proof that women are so much more than what the society expects them to be.

Apart from her academic life, she is also a mother of one.

The condition of women in this third-world country has not had any drastic improvement over the years. But today, women countrywide have someone to look up to, someone to relate to for their struggles. Now they have evidence that women aspiring for greatness are not just a cog in the system.

With Begum Ruqaiya having paved the way for education of women, Rebecca is perhaps the most effective option right now to take the helm. Rebecca is the mother of a new line of strong and independent women. Her courage accompanied by her willpower is what makes her the perfect role model for the new generation of Bangladeshi girls.