When I was very little, I pictured Wall Street as a sacred nest full of insanely brilliant intellectuals who determine the direction for global financial and cultural development. The time for me to doubt my belief came sooner than I thought.

“Wall Street is not that intellectually exclusive after all,” I said to myself after getting lost trying to find a place that I knew was no more than three minutes away from the place I work.

With more and more daily encounters bearing a strong NYC brand, I am forced to get used to the idea that I am actually living in the big apple where everything could happen. Running into celebrities have literally been happening on a daily basis among Moxie members. Monday: Brooke Shields; Tuesday: Lavern Cox; Wednesday: Taylor Swift. It might not be long before we start a data sheet with the title: who is next?

Of course, interesting NYC experiences do not all come in the form of attractive celebrities walking down the street. Subway could be a great public transportation, but also a place where we could witness some very unusual situations. Abby, one of our Moxie girls, almost accidentally sat on a giant pile of poop on her first day to work. It would probably be a better story if she DID accidentally sat on that giant pile of poop. Nonetheless, the reason why subway seats have such unconventional decorations remains a mystery to us all.

So, two lessons learned from first three days of life in NYC:

1. Always on the look out for celebrities.
2. Shit happens on subways, literally.

The smell of NYC did not stop outside my workplace. While my director and all the other people I am working with in Sanctuary for Families are incredibly kind and helpful, I am surprised to see myself jumping into a pile of work in a professional setting that I am not at all familiar with. What surprised me even more was how fast I adjusted to this completely new lifestyle. While college life could be stressful, I could always find time for a refreshing walk or a short nap whenever I needed. In a professional setting, I am expected to be focusing on my work from 10-5pm. Instead of using a ridiculous amount of caffeine to keep myself awake, I found no difficulty in completing all my duties and read as many related articles on domestic violence and sex trafficking as possible. My job succeeded in keeping me awake and energetic, which is a really impressive achievement considering my obsession and super high demand for sleep. I feel lucky that I am working on issues that I am genuinely interested in, and have learned so much on the topic already.

It’s only been three days, NYC and its unique craziness are still slowly unfolding. Despite its fast-pace, stress and weird happenings, I think it’s safe to say I’m falling in love with the city already.

Stella is a junior at Duke who will be interning at Sanctuary for Families.

Hi! My name is Stella Zhang and I’m a rising junior double majoring in Economics and Philosophy. I was born and raised in Dalian, a city on the east coast of China. What is my most important tag currently? Self-identified feminist.

Two questions you may want to ask at this point: How did you start identifying as a feminist? Is feminism even a thing in China?

To start my story by answering the second question, the answer is NO. At least not where I grew up. Most people have never heard of this concept; and among the very few who have, most register feminism as a sort of heresy aiming to give women more rights over men. Before college, I had heard this word mentioned only a few times, and naturally, considered the concept to be unnecessary, if not ridiculous, in this perfectly “gender-equal” world.

In my own defense, it was hard for me, as a teenager, to associate my immediate environment with gender inequality. My mother has a successful career, manages all family income, and her judgments are always highly valued whenever it comes to making important family decisions; at school, girls and boys are treated equally, and girls occupy around half the Dean’s list; almost all my friends have both parents working. My parents have always told me to “work hard” because they have high expectations for my achievements, but have also casually suggested me not to “work too hard” because “after all, you are a girl.” I always nodded to their advice, for the reason they gave was self-explanatory. Yes, I am a girl, why bother climbing to the very top of a field when I could be the daughter, wife, or mother of someone like that instead?

My cultural anthropology class in the second semester of my freshman year turned my world upside down, when I finally realized how many things I used to consider perfectly normal are actually siding with patriarchy. The overwhelming amount of male leaders, clearly defined gender roles, and the frequent interruption of female voices all started to bother me. What startled me the most was the realization that “a girl,” “a woman,” “a female” bear the connotation of a “lesser” being. “After all, you are a girl” could become the reason for not taking one’s academic or career goal as seriously as one’s male counterparts; for lowering one’s voice so that people could hear the voice of men; for accepting the role of women as sexual objects for men. And I can go on and on. Why should my gender have anything to do with what people expect of me? How many women are affected by the idea “after all, I am a girl” when it comes to their academic, career, and personal choices without realizing the problem of gender inequality? How many girls like me will be influenced by “kind” suggestions that ended with the sentence “after all, you are a girl”? These questions started popping out randomly, leaving me curious and frustrated.

I gradually realized that I have become a feminist.

Ever since I started identifying myself as a feminist, I have been eagerly in search of an opportunity where I could put my enthusiasm into use. I applied for the Moxie Project hoping to gain a better understanding of feminism by working with female-empowering organizations. I specifically chose to work with Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the safety, healing, and self-determination of victims of gender violence. In order to gain better insight on feminism, it is important to learn more about women suffering from activities that lead to extreme gender inequality. As their Communications Intern, I will be in charge of social media account management. I am excited to use the power of Internet to fight against gender violence and help victims continue their lives as strong, brave, and independent individuals.

So here is an official declaration: I am passionate about feminism. I am not afraid to be identified as a feminist. I am ready to fight against gender inequality.

If anyone asks for a reason, the answer would be: AFTER ALL, I AM A GIRL.