There are so many different kinds of bada** women because, let’s face it, women are awesome. Our next BAWW happens to be a close friend of mine, Ms. Anna Boynton, but it will become clear when I describe her achievements that most anyone would agree she is bada**. A few days ago, Anna boarded a plane to Africa to continue her undergraduate study on post-genocide peace building and reconciliation in Rwanda. Anna’s international travels and her deep meaningful concern with helping the world around her are two of the many attributes that have lead to her most recent accolade of Iris Magazine’s Bada** Woman of the Week. Anna has been to 25 countries and lived in Cambodia for seven months. She received a State Department Scholarship to study Arabic in Cairo, where she also volunteered teaching English at a local community center. All these accomplishments happened before she came to U.Va! What makes Anna so very bada** is not only her desire to help the world on a big scale, but also her very meaningful engagement with the world on a smaller scale. At U.Va she has worked extensively with Madison House, participating in the “Beyond Bars” program, and the “Play Literacy” program. She works as a Globemed Campaigns staff member, and is the treasurer of Sigma Omichron Ro, U.Va’s only LGBTA fraternity. I’m sure you are all wondering how and why she finds the time to do all of this. I asked her these questions and she thoughtfully responded:
“I really think what motivates all this is a sense of personal responsibility. I decided not to look at something horrible and think 'someone should do something about that' but to think instead 'what can I do about that?’ 'Apathy is lethal' is a leading tenet of my life, as is this quote from Albert Camus: ‘If I had to write a book on morality it would be a hundred pages long, and 99 would be blank. On the last page I should write "I recognize only one duty and that is to love.”’ Obviously, you cannot take on every problem in the world, so I chose to focus on peace building and trauma recovery after conflict.”
Anna successfully juggles her focus on trying to heal, on making whatever change she can, on loving her friends, her family, and on salsa-dancing. Whether she is backpacking through Europe, being proposed to by her Jordanian host-brother (upon realizing that he was serious, she respectfully declined), or shimmying up a storm on the dance floor, Anna remains dignified, calm, and caring. She is one of the most bada*** women I know. By Lingerr Senghor
