Alright, here we go again. I’m just gonna type like a real person who’s had too much coffee and not enough sleep. Women’s empowerment through education literally saved me from hating every Monday morning, but god it didn’t look like the motivational posters. I’m in my apartment right now—January 2026, radiator clanking like it’s possessed, outside it’s that gross gray slush that makes Faridabad feel luxurious by comparison (kidding, I’m still in the Midwest U.S., sorry). And yeah, I’m still figuring shit out.
Why I Used to Roll My Eyes at “Women’s Empowerment Through Education”
I used to think it was just another buzzword HR throws around so they don’t have to give raises. Like, cool story, but I’m still making 42k and pretending I love my benefits package. Then 2024 happened, layoff rumors every quarter, and I finally went “okay fine, maybe I should learn something before they learn I’m replaceable.”
So I started. Free Coursera stuff first because broke. Then paid ones when I got brave (or desperate). Digital marketing, project management basics, even a tiny bit of SQL because why not torture myself. It was ugly. I cried over a Google Data Analytics certificate module at 2:37 a.m. once because the video kept buffering and I kept forgetting what a JOIN was. Embarrassing? Yes. Empowering? Weirdly, yeah.
The Real Skills That Started Feeling Like Power (Not the Instagram Kind)
Women’s empowerment through education isn’t about the framed diploma. It’s about those moments you stop shrinking in meetings.
Stuff that actually changed things for me:
- I can now pull my own reports instead of begging the data guy who acts like I’m interrupting his day. Huge.
- I pitched a small campaign idea last month and didn’t preface it with “this is probably stupid but…” for the first time ever.
- I built a stupid simple dashboard for tracking my freelance invoices. It looks like a toddler made it in PowerPoint but it works and it’s mine.
None of this happened overnight. Most days I still feel like an imposter who just got lucky with autocomplete. But every time I finish something—anything—I get this quiet “oh I guess I can do hard shit” feeling. That’s women’s empowerment through education showing up in sweatpants.
There’s good data on this too. UNESCO has a whole section on how educating women changes everything downstream—higher income, healthier kids, less poverty. I read it when I needed proof that I wasn’t just being dramatic.
My Worst Moments (Because Sugarcoating Is Boring)
I once signed up for four courses at once thinking “new year new me energy.” Dropped three. Ghosted two instructors. Felt like a failure. Also accidentally shared my screen in a Zoom call showing my 47 open tabs including “how to adult at 35” and “why am I like this psychology.” Someone definitely saw. I wanted to die.
But here’s the part I hate admitting: those fuck-ups taught me more than the passing grades. Women get told we have to be flawless or we don’t deserve the seat. That’s bullshit. Women’s empowerment through education means you get to suck at first. You get to rage-quit a module and come back next week. You get to be human.
Right Now, Today, Still Not Fixed
I freelance on the side now. Nothing glamorous—small business social media, some email funnels. I still undercharge sometimes because imposter syndrome is a clingy ex. But I negotiated a rate increase last week without throwing up afterward, so progress? Education and skills didn’t make me rich or confident overnight. They just gave me evidence that I can learn my way out of corners I thought were permanent. And that feels bigger than money sometimes.
So if you’re sitting there thinking “yeah but I’m too old / too tired / too [whatever],” I get it. I’m still there half the days. Start with one video. One free class. One terrifying Google search at midnight. It’s not cute. It’s not aesthetic. But it’s power, messy version.
