Hi, I’m Steph. I’m a 23 year old graduate student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, pursuing a Master of Health Informatics and Master of Public Health degrees. My research is focused on infectious disease transmission modeling and developing computer programs that can simulate disease spread throughout populations, taking into account pathogen-specific and population-specific characteristics. Some of my main hobbies include brewing kombucha, meditation, cooking fun meals for the people I live with, and engaging in mental health activism.
Ever since I was a young kid, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in science or computer programming (turns out: both!). I grew up in a devout Mormon family, but was frequently disheartened by lessons I learned in Young Women’s that taught me that my primary role was to support a husband and to rear children, when all I was dreaming about in my future was getting a PhD and traveling around the world. I never felt like my dreams and ambitions “fit” in Mormonism.
Additionally, I was raised by a single mom who was incredibly intelligent, compassionate, and wise. It didn’t make sense to me why she was not allowed to have the priesthood, whereas a lot of the men closest to me in my life seemed to be more short-sighted and, frankly, more selfishly motivated compared with some of the truly incredible women in my life. The patriarchal paradigm did not make sense to me because in my world, women were smart and caring and capable. Why does someone’s innate authority and leadership capabilities depend on what their genitals look like? That never made sense to me even from a young age and when I tried to bring it up, I never got answers that I was satisfied with.
I finally left the church after coming out as LGBT. I knew that, unfortunately, the LDS Church wasn’t a place that could deal with one woman in the family having priesthood power, let alone two! Since leaving, I have still been hopeful that one day Mormonism will become more accepting of the equality and power of women in this world and of the legitimacy of LGBTQ relationships. Even though I have resigned from the church because of its devaluation of me and my goals, I want nothing more than for women and LGBTQ folks to be able to stay, should they so desire.
I believe women should be ordained.