She wasn't the first feminist that I knew, but she was the first feminist I looked up to. I thought, "I could be like her." All my idols were too distant: Naomi Wolf and Gloria Steinem and multiple women writers who came from east and west coast backgrounds. It just wasn't something you saw much in my hometown or in the region. My high school teacher told me it was "cute" that I was a feminist. I didn't have one other friend in school that I talked to about equal rights or why I cared about the movement. I don't remember ever talking about feminism with my gal pals in high school. Instead, I studied it privately. The staff writers at Sassy magazine were my friends. Or if not my friends, then at least my teachers.
When Ann walked into the classroom on that first day, I could already feel my life changing. It wasn't her. It was who I was slowly becoming. I was finally starting to participate. When I learned she was from the region, I finally started to see what could be possible for me.
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