Resilient Like Cactus

Exploring the Saguaro National Park in Tuscon, Arizona made me contemplate the parallels between the majestic saguaros and the world I work in to advance gender equity in STEM. As I meandered at a snails pace on an 8 mile loop through the park, I stopped frequently and stood in wonder, contemplated resilience, and embraced resistance under the thorns, blossoms and thick arms of the cacti.

Comparing to the work I do, I thought….

Drill holes in us. Try to freeze us. Cut off a limb. And all we do is keep growing…and in the spring (or whenever graduation happens) we bloom beautiful flowers. And as a friend and colleague shared, push us too hard and we might just poke back.

We are resilient. We resist when systems get in our way. We have prickly thorns and we bloom beautiful flowers and we grow. And the fruits of our labor grow seeds that grow others and we spread.