Tuesday, 8 March 2022

International Women’s Day

Ms TAYLOR (Southern Metropolitan) (12:55): I recall that when I got into law school I met a male student who wondered how I got the marks to get in. He thought I must have had some sort of special arrangement. I want to express gratitude to teachers I had in school who really inspired me. I remember my legal studies teacher, who said to me, ‘Nina, if you work really hard you can get 100 per cent in legal studies’. Of course, being naïve, I believed her. And, guess what, I got 100 per cent in legal studies. I am not saying that to flatter myself. It just goes to show what inspiration can do.

What triggered these memories is that last week I went to the International Women’s Day alumni breakfast for Mac.Robertson Girls High. Principal Harrap shared her story. She grew up on a farm, and it was expected that she could handle anything on a farm but she was heavily discouraged from going to university. Anyway, the former enabled the latter. She ended up going to uni, and now she is a brilliant principal who is inspiring her students to break down the barriers.

If I loop back to that male student—he will remain anonymous; that is fine—I recall we compared notes, and our HSC scores were 1 point different. So can I say: happy International Women’s Day.