In light of the celebration of International Women’s Week, the Global Spectrum, in collaboration with International Programs & Services, will showcase interviews with our UBC-O community. Enjoy!

Joseph Khouri

Q: What makes a self-identified woman remarkable or exceptional?

What makes a woman special is the achievements and goals that she puts in her mind and actually achieves them, goes for it and doesn’t hesitate when it comes to it being difficult or out of her way. A woman’s courage in society will help bring about gender equality, especially in countries that are less developed and have that issue that bring their economy down thus women play a major role in the human cycle by raising children that are well educated and self-reliant.

Q: Do you have a remarkable woman in mind? Why?

I think my sister would fit the characteristics I have given because she has come to Canada all by herself and she has been doing great, going to university, studying and getting the potential that she deserves. Living along for an Arab girl this is a big step in her life especially since there aren’t many people she can rely on being away from home.

Avery Bridge 

Q: What makes a self-identified woman remarkable or exceptional?

Confidence, and being able to follow her dreams. Someone who isn’t held back by identities and by what someone should be.

Q: Do you have a remarkable woman in mind? Why?

My mum, because she is an engineer, and people told her she shouldn’t be an engineer because she was a girl, so yeah, I think it’s cool she did it anyways.

Jessica Sulz 

Q: What makes a self-identified woman remarkable or exceptional?

To me, even in the face of adversity, when you stand up for what you believe in is something that makes a woman remarkable.

Q: Do you have a remarkable woman in mind? Why?

My mum. I know it’s pretty cliché and many people say that, but my mum to me is really remarkable because she was a police officer and when she was going into the police industry, there wasn’t many women in there. I think that’s really inspiring to me, that she did that anyway. She ended up being singled out because she was a woman, because she was able to get pregnant and take time off work, and she ended up losing her job, but she still took a stand against this. She is now a big advocate for women, she gets recognition from others.

Mary Song 

Q: What makes a self-identified woman remarkable or exceptional?

Q: Do you have a remarkable woman in mind? Why?

What makes a woman exceptional would be the things that they have encountered in their lives and things that they have pushed through and fought for. A woman that I think that has both those qualities is my mother as she’s a residential school survivor. She’s been sober now for 13 years. This past year she’s overcome so many obstacles in regards to a different way of living, learning to be around people, learning how to talk about residential school, learning how to read about it without feeling too uncomfortable and pushing it away. Learning to understand and read where I come from being her daughter and the impact it’s had on my family. She’s just really inspired me to keep pushing, to move forward with helping other families heal and other individuals who are still suffering or else live with those impacts within their own communities or family structures