Our culture is littered with phrases such as "Boys will be boys" and
"It's a girl thing," but what do those sayings actually mean? It's not
uncommon to encounter hostility when attempting to disprove the
innateness of gender, since gender has become so entwined in the social
fabric of our society. When someone oversteps the boundaries of
"acceptable" gendered behavior, the response is, at best, mocking.
Growing up as the only child of a service member, I was always told,
"All the fish are going one way. You, you my dear are going the other
way." My father, to this day even though I am 26, married, and a
mother, still tells me that.
During
the months that my father was home from overseas deployments (being
that he was in the Coast Guard), we would get together and bond by
turning wrenches and talking hot rod shop talk. I was raised on the
small island of Ketchikan, Alaska, where the only girl playmate away.
I attended a private Catholic school where I journeyed through grade
school with the same 13 people for six years. When I played, it was
with the boys, or no one at all. I learned to make bike ramps, create
forts in the woods, fish, hunt, and most all the other "boy" things
growing up. It took a lot to become accepted in the neighborhood,
because I was the only female, but I really feel that it was the being
process in molding my character to be just that, different.
My
family was re-stationed to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1991, whenI
was in the middle of my fourth-grade year. My parents yet again,
enrolled me in a private school, where I learned priceless lifelong
virtues and values. I was never the popular one, always on the outside
of the girl's circle; they tolerated me and would talk to me, but they
never accepted me in their clique. I think it was due to the fact that
I never really had been involved with girls growing up, so I wasn't
really interested in them at that point either, or offended by them,
for that matter. I was never really into purple, pink, and bows, I
liked my jeans, legos, and my Honda 125 three-wheeler.
Finishing up my 8th grade year was unsettling, as my parents were
building a house in the country, and I knew that meant I would soon be
making new friends once again, and getting introduced into the public
school system. Signing up for my first semester of classes, I
requested to enroll in automotive class, but I was told no because I
was female. I was not educated enough at the time to know that this
was discrimination, so I took it in stride. During my sophomore year,
I tried once again to enroll in automotive class, but I was told it was
full, later to find out that was not true. So I began attending
automotive class on the side. During my lunch break I would go into
auto class and participate, until the principal saw me and reprimanded
me for not being where I was supposed to be during my lunch hour. All
the while, unbeknownst to him, he was feeding my drive, my hunger, and
my passion to learn about cars. So I got a job in an independent
garage not far from my house as an apprentice.
This
saga dragged on until my senior year, when we got a new principal. A
woman. On the first day of school, I made an appointment with her to
talk about my painful struggle of enrolling in the automotive class.
Thankfully, I was able to attend automotive class my entire 12th grade
year, and graduated with a major in automotive. The principal, Mrs.
Dempsey, gave me a huge window of opportunity, to the point that I knew
beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was going to be a female mechanic.
Three
months after graduation of high school I started automotive classes at
Wayne Community College, the closest automotive education facility
where I could get certified with some substance to use in the
workforce. When I joined the General Motors Automotive Service
Excellency Program (GM ASEP) there were 24 enrollees, of which I was
the only female. GM ASEP was a co-op program where I learned in a
classroom setting for two months and worked at a dealership for two
months. This went on for two years, and I soaked up every moment, what
an experience! I graduated with an associate degree in automotive
science on September 11, 2002 with the remaining six classmates who had
endured and conquered the entire program, and, still, I was the only
woman. I carried that passion and drive into the dealership setting
where I turned wrenches in a large dealership, with many mechanics --
once again -- as the only female.
Later, I married a soldier
and was stationed in Alaska, and became a mother. I still wanted to
remain involved in the automotive industry, be a mother, and the wife
of a now deployed soldier. So I began to volunteer for the Army
educating wives who also had deployed soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan
to teach them to take better care of themselves while their husbands
were defending this great country.
After being relocated to
Tennessee, I went back to work. I am now an Assistant Service Manager
at a local Toyota dealership, a automotive seminar facilitator, and a
www.askpatty.com Advisor. It is my honor to share my knowledge with
others, and to assist women in empowering themselves with knowledge
they would not necessarily have access to.
By Amanda J. Pierce
AskPatty.com Expert Advisor
photos by kadiwow and gunnarsonadventures, via flickr
automotive advice for women
