Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Today was the 49th Worldwide Sketchcrawl so the Seattle Urban Sketchers held a special WWSC outing at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I've parked in the lot just north of there many times for the Seattle Marathon but am embarrassed to say I hadnt noticed the Gates Foundation was there and it has apparently been a few years. What a great place! As soon as I walked in I noticed this post-it board. I walked around a bit and there was other cool stuff to draw including a large room with all kinds of message boards with words such as "inspiration" and "innovation" as well as an Iron Lung which I had never seen before. But I circled back to draw the poster board. The sign caught my attention because I've spent the past week having discussions with my daughter about about girls, women, and science especially after seeing the film The Martian and talking to my friend who is a data scientist at NASA. As I sat to sketch, one of the Gates Foundation staff came by and mentioned that I could add a post-it if I wanted. At first I thought, No, I don't want to mess with my drawing subject. But then as time passed I found myself getting up to add two post-its.  You cant see very well in the sketch but the post-its said, "Mentors," "Malala," "Mindfulness," "Confidence," "Menstrual Cups," "Power and Voice," "Self-Confidence," "Equal Respect," and "Parents who Care," "Freedom from Violence, "and "Survival Skills" ...  I sat there for two hours and at about an hour in I got up to add my two green post-its -- that said "To believe that they can be scientists" and "to have confidence in their skills in math." Through the window I could see Memorial Stadium where they sometimes have my daughter's HS football games and where she went to a concert during Bumbershoot. And could hear a recording of Melinda Gates in the background talking about global health and the important work being done and still to be done. Sitting and listening to the audio of Melinda Gates made me think about how much responsibility comes with all that wealth, how inspiring it is to see what can come from it. Oh, and of course I couldn't help think about my magnificent smart kind unique daughter, how lucky she is to live in this great city surrounded by such inspiration and good fortune and all of my hopes and dreams for her. I wish for all the post-its to come true for all the girls and women around the world......