Dear Elizabeth Eckford, Ida B. Wells, Martha Gellhorn, and countless others,

I am a Latina woman in college, but I hardly accomplished that on my own. Without women like you, who came before me, I would’ve never been able to get to where I am or pursue my goals. I owe so much to all of you, and this letter is a thank you. Thank you for paving the way. Thank you for being brave enough to be a trailblazer, to attempt to do things so many people said you could not. Thank you for proving women could be so much more than what men and other women thought we could be.

Elizabeth Eckford, you helped change the hearts of Americans with your courage. Being a part of the Little Rock Nine couldn’t have been easy, but your strength in facing an angry mob by yourself amazes me every day. You are a part of the reason I am even here today. Your passion for your education helped lead to integration. The integration of schools was one of the first steps in changing society. And now I, a half-Latina and half-Caucasian woman, am grateful I have been even allowed to exist.

Martha Gellhorn, to put it bluntly, I want to be you. Because of your sacrifices, I and plenty of other girls will have a lot easier of a time following our dreams of being war correspondents. You didn’t let your husband, Ernest Hemingway, stop you from traveling to cover wars. In fact, you covered everything from the Spanish Civil War to the Vietnam War. You divorced your husband in 1945 because you had had enough of him trying to stop you. Being a female in war is hard enough in present day, I can’t even imagine what it was like then. But you proved that women could be there and had a right to, so thank you.

Ida B. Wells, you were an African-American woman writing about race issues as early as the late 1800s. In fact, you did the same thing as Rosa Parks, 70 years before her. You were so ahead of your time, but I guess that’s why I admire you so greatly. It’s ten times easier for someone like to me speak out against the injustices in society now than it would’ve been one hundred years ago. That has a lot to do with the fact that you spoke out first. Perhaps it seemed like no one was listening; now countless people are listening as you are mentioned in the history of journalism classes. You helped pioneer investigative journalism by taking on the topic of lynching and you helped organize boycotts with the likes of Frederick Douglas.

I could go on to thank countless women because so many of them have left a place in my heart, but there are not enough words or time to truly appreciate them all. I will do my best to thank them by taking advantage of all the opportunities I have because of them.