Catherine Chan

My Story

Hi, I'm Catherine Chan and I am a currently a sophomore attending Arcadia High School in California! I am an artist who is interested in humanity and portraying small moments of crisis through my paintings, shining light on the people affected by the crisis that the public may not have known before. I am also a pianist and when I am not busy with school, I can be found watching playing with my dog Barney and watching movies with my family. Being a Girl Scout for almost 9 years, I was able to learn greatly about what it means to use your voice and stand up for what you believe in, as well as standing up for the better of your community.

Overall, I deeply value the power of expression. I often find my outlets of expressing myself through various my love of painting, playing the piano and speaking up. Only with education, am I able to express myself. Near the end of July 2020, I created the Ladies First Project with my friend Nathalie because of how overlooked girls' education is in regions of South Asia and strongly felt the urge to raise awareness and be in the fore-front of girls' empowerment.

Today, we serve as the Presidents of LFP with our incredible team of officers, helping us day by day to act on this issue because many people do not realize how difficult it is for girls to receive in education in South Asia. Areas in South Asia such as India, Sudan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are heavily deep-rooted with gender disparity in their societies. There are numerous barriers prohibiting girls from accessing education and educational opportunities from hours of research, such include early marriage, being sexually harassed by men on the way to school, poor health sanitation, war and violence.

The power of education and knowledge unlocks our individuality and enables us all to prosper into our full potential. With education, we are also less vulnerable to society as we can use our voices and stand up for ourselves, as well as fight for what we believe in. I remember spending the remaining second-half of our summer researching and promoting how girls' education are not prioritized in South Asia. Being heavily involved in feminism and human rights, my vision for the future is for girls in third-world countries such as South Asia to grow to their full potential and be able to learn as much as they wish.

Without the basic human right of education, they are silenced by society. I dream that the Ladies First Project can help girls overcome the misogynistic society they are born into. I hope for a future generation where gender disparity is no longer an issue limiting the education and silencing the voices girls.