by Emily Wemhoff

When the Pentagon announced that the military was lifting the 1994 ban that restricts women from artillery, armor, infantry and other combat roles, I was shocked. First of all, how had this not happened before? I didn’t know that women couldn’t serve on the front lines because I assumed the military changed the rule 20 years ago.

Then I found out that in reality, women have been in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan for a long time. According to the Pentagon, hundreds of thousands of women have deployed in various conflicts due to the necessities of war. As of last year, more than 800 women had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died. But only now has the military decided to recognize their roles in combat.

In 2012, Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar, an Air National Guard helicopter pilot, was shot down, returned fire and was wounded while on the ground in Afghanistan, but could not seek combat leadership positions because the Defense Department did not officially acknowledge her service.

That is even more of an outrage to me. How has the military recognized its men as superior to the thousands of women with equal dedication?

At STA, we have been taught to be proud women. I always feel lucky to attend an all-girls school where each person is recognized not by their gender but by their accomplishments. If we want to truly express gratitude for the equal opportunities STA provides, we need to take our understandings into the world.We need to stand up for girls at other schools who feel ashamed to raise their hand in class because they feel like boys are superior.

According to author Sara Laschever, studies show that boys react more quickly than girls and are usually first to raise their hands when asked a question. Laschever completed a story where she discovered that as early as first grade, boys will raise their hands in class to answer a question even if they don’t know the answer. They simply want the teacher’s attention. However, little girls won’t raise their hands even when they do know the answer.

“Boys want to be offered attention and acknowledgment for brains and work,” Laschever said. “Women wait to be asked, wait to be offered.”

Let’s be thankful that at STA, we don’t wait to be offered anything. We jump at opportunities. We stand up for each other. We go into the world prepared to be lawyers, doctors and leaders of society.

So as women nationwide celebrate the historic decision to lift the ban on combat roles, be grateful for what you have. This is not the end of women’s battle for opportunity — it is the beginning.