“Whenever you feel afraid, just remember. Courage is the root of change – and change is what we’re chemically designed to do. So, when you wake up tomorrow, make this pledge. No more holding yourself back. No more subscribing to others’ opinions of what you can and cannot achieve. And no more allowing anyone to pigeonhole you into useless categories of sex, race, economic status, and religion. Do not allow your talents to lie dormant, ladies. Design your own future. When you go home today, ask yourself what YOU will change. And then get started.” 
Elizabeth Zott, Lessons in Chemistry 

These are the words of the feisty Elizabeth Zott who is smart, articulate and intolerant of those who doubt the ability and capacity of women. 

For the uninitiated, Elizabeth Zott is the central character in the wonderful book Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus. The book tells the engaging story of Elizabeth along with her daughter Madeline and dog Six-Thirty. 

Without spoiling the book for those who have not read it, Elizabeth is a scientist who specialises in Chemistry. Enduring a frustrating scientific career, which sees male colleagues getting credit for her work, being underpaid, and passed over for recognition and promotion, Elizabeth finds herself fronting a cooking show which she conducts like a chemistry class. She then becomes a nationwide sensation in the process! 

I just finished this book last week and it has caused me to think about the place of women in our society and around the world. Earlier this term we celebrated International Women’s Day which highlights the talent of women everywhere, but also the challenges which remain in ensuring fairness, equality, and respect for all women.  

Every day I am at St Catherine’s, I find myself surrounded by women and girls who are bright, engaging, funny, warm-hearted and with so much to contribute to our community and the world at large. After reading about the prejudice Elizabeth faces in her world daily, it makes me wonder about the lives our students will experience. Our students are talented and smart. They are kind and generous. They want to make a difference in the world. 

As you would be aware, former President Barack Obama recently conducted a lecture tour in Australia. During the course of the event in Sydney he said “I am actually convinced that if we could try an experiment in which every country on Earth was run by women for just like two years … I am confident the world would tilt in a better direction.”  The Honourable Julie Bishop who was chairing the session, retorted back, “just give us two months!” While her response was clearly meant as a joke, deep down she probably meant it. The women at St Catherine’s instil in our students a belief that every girl can succeed at whatever they put their mind to. 

The other book I read over the last few weeks, A Woman of No Importance, by Sonia Purnell. It was a fascinating story about real life hero Virgina Hall.  

Virginia was an American spy who was the most highly decorated female civilian during World War II. Virgina, almost single-handedly, organised and led the French resistance during Nazi occupation. Her bravery, courage, tenacity, and leadership saw many successful missions which advanced the Allied war effort. She reputedly assisted bringing forward the D-day invasion and in bringing the war to an end about 12 months earlier than might have happened otherwise, saving countless lives in the process.  

Virginia, like our fictional hero Elizabeth, also faced discrimination by male colleagues, had promotions blocked, and did not receive the recognition due to her until many decades after the war had concluded.  

It was said of her, that “she gambled again and again with her own life, not out of a fervent nationalism for her own country, but out of love and respect for the freedoms of another.” She managed to survive the horrors and extreme dangers of the war while “looking natural and ordinary” while doing “unnatural and extraordinary things.” 

Both Elizabeth and Virginia remind us that we should not set limits on what can be achieved. Elizabeth Zott is exasperated when she says “as humans, we’re by-products of our upbringings, victims of our lacklustre educational systems, and choosers of our behaviours. In short, the reduction of women to something less than men, and the elevation of men to something more than women, is not biological: it’s cultural. And it starts with two words: pink and blue. Everything skyrockets out of control from there.”  

Every day I see St Catherine’s girls excel in academics, Sport, Art, Music and in service to the community. St Catherine’s is unashamedly an all girls school where our students can be the people they wish to be without hindrance.