How Did Elizabeth Blackwell Contribute To Society

There have been many influential woman that have changed and shaped the roles of women in society in the past and in the future. They opened up the doors of opportunity for future women and made many contributions to our society, but there's one woman in particular that stands out, Elizabeth Blackwell. She has contributed greatly to American society by expanding women’s rights through her passion, perseverance and competence to become the first woman doctor in America. In the mid and late 1800s, there weren’t many choices for women as far as jobs go, women mostly became housewives or worked in factories, and they could only dream of becoming doctors, but Elizabeth Blackwell changed that dream into a reality.

One of the many qualities a person
needs to be resilient is passion, “Only passion, great passion can elevate the soul to great things” (- Denis Diderot), and that is exactly what elevated Elizabeth to pursue her dream, her passion towards her dying friend, and her friends statement that if she had a woman doctor her procedure would have been far less painful. Passion to a significant extent can determine the behavior of humans, can you even imagine your life without it? Without passion our life would resemble the life of a rock, dull, boring and disappointing, rather than that of a human. Passion plays a great role in our lives and often guides and leads us to great achievements, like it did for Elizabeth. Without passion elizabeth would never have even thought of becoming a doctor, and our lives now would be very different. Imagine a life where women don't have the right to learn, where their dreams get laughed at in their face, and are considered nothing more than jokes. Elizabeth was told that becoming a doctor was impossible because such an education was not available to woman, but she stood strong to her beliefs in the face of people unwilling to accept woman as serious contenders. She challenged the prevailing wisdom that women were not suited for work and shattered a number of barriers and beliefs on her way to becoming a doctor. The notion of a female doctor was laughable and considered scandalous, but that was before Elizabeth Blackwell changed their minds.

Perseverance, to me perseverance is an overachiever, a person that has gone out of their way to do good for others and society itself, unselfish, yet fighting for what they believe in, and that is what Elizabeth Blackwell is. She accomplished something so deep and meaningful that it made an impact on millions, if she hadn't thought of becoming a doctor then many women today would be without jobs, and would most likely be thought of as housewives. ”Our school education ignores in a thousand ways, the rules of healthy development” - (Elizabeth Blackwell). Elizabeth was rejected several times by many schools because she was a girl, finally she got accepted but not because people had faith in her and believed she could do it, the reason she was accepted was as a joke. Her first few months at the Geneva Medical College in New York were rough, townspeople and many of the male student body harassed her, she was even banned from class demos, and whenever speakers came in she wasn't allowed to participate. She however persevered and got a degree in medicine. She was very special to many people, because she did what many woman were to scared to do, “if society will not admit of woman's free development then society must be remodeled” - (Elizabeth Blackwell), she let the world know that woman were equal to men. She was a strong woman because no matter what people did and said, she stood strong and accomplished her goal. “The idea of winning a doctor's degree gradually assumed the aspect of a great moral struggle, and the moral fight possessed immense attraction for me” - (Elizabeth Blackwell), many female doctors have her to thank.

Competence is possessing a skill or a certain amount of knowledge on a subject, that allows us to do something successfully.
When we feel competent we can greet new environments calmly and confidently. Our competence helps those around us become inspired. Elizabeth blackwell was competent, although her most famous achievement was being the first woman to graduate from medical school, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell's accomplishments did not end there. She devoted her life to helping others, both in healing and in education. After returning to the United States after working in Paris, she struggled to find a place to practice. Hospitals and landlords refused her, so she bought her own house and practiced from there, women and children were her patients. In 1852, Elizabeth published The “Laws of Life”, which was made up of a collection of lectures she had written on health. Next, she opened a dispensary in New York City with two other female physicians. Eventually, the dispensary became renamed as the “New York Infirmary for Women and Children”. Elizabeth returned to England to encourage other women to enter the field of medicine. In 1859, she was admitted to the Medical Register of the United Kingdom, Dr. Blackwell was the first woman to ever receive that honor. Not only was Elizabeth talented at what she did, she also gave other woman
hope.

Resiliency is a great character trait to have, it's not something we are born with, and it's not something we can fake, resiliency is us as a whole, it is who we have become, what many people strive to be. A resilient person is someone you can challenge, someone that will not break, and if they do, they will only bounce back stronger. I believe that Elizabeth Blackwell is resilient because she stuck up for women's rights, was faced with many challenges along the way but never gave up, she had passion, perseverance and high levels of competency, as well as many other resiliency character traits. We have her to thank for being able to have an education and being treated with the same amount of respect as men. I think we can all learn a lesson from Elizabeth, on how to be resilient, and although she was left out of the history books that we have read, she is nothing short of extraordinary.