when I made a formal complaint about the professor asking me for a hug / the professor telling young women that being minorities and females makes job-hunting simple / the professor touching women / they told me nothing could be done while I remained anonymous.
when the university’s clemency was worn down with complaints of inappropriate touching / objectifying comments / racist behavior / they pressured him into quitting.
when I graduated from university and left there were women / women / women fighting more abusers: professors accused of sexual misconduct.
they stormed into classrooms, intense with rage / hurt / boldness / with signs and chants and all I could think is how I wished I could fight alongside them / how I wished I had fought harder before / how the first engineering professor most young women had would massage their shoulders / exacerbate their impostor syndrome / and
ask for those goddamned hugs
Sarosh is a mechanical engineer & anthropologist, and is particularly interested in the overlap between those subjects. She loves experimenting with her curly hair. She is a reader for the Longleaf Review, Anomaly, and Periwinkle Literary Magazine. Twitter/Instagram: @saroshnandwani