She was told by ex-FIL she should get a nursing degree as 'men should be engineers'—she boldly proved him wrong in court
When someone puts in effort and is determined to achieve something, they can use the support and encouragement of their loved ones. Family members should take pride in the skills and hard work being put in and not prioritize their background, gender, appearance or other qualities. A man–who goes by u/PeaceloveSmithWesson on Reddit–shared the story of his wife and how her former in-laws, who were sexist, scoffed at her idea of pursuing further education solely because she was a woman. She was even told that she should consider the role of a nurse instead. However, she made the right decision at the time and years later, got the fruit of her hard work in the most iconic way.
The man revealed that his now-wife had married another man soon after high school. While she worked as an assistant to a nurse, her husband was pursuing engineering. “Being smart, she wanted to challenge herself, so she started looking at law school. She went to college during the day and worked at night to help support the husband who just went to school,” he mentioned. He recounted the upsetting time the woman’s ex-father-in-law, a professional engineer, crossed the limit. At dinner, he began “rambling” about how “hard engineering school is and that law school might be as tough.”
In addition to his discouragement, he tried to push the woman off to becoming a nurse. “He insisted that she look into going to nursing school since ‘you already work like a nurse.’ The son, her husband, agreed and said it might be easier for her,” the post read. Listening to their disappointing opinions, the woman decided to take up Chemical Engineering. Despite being the only female among 120 students, being harassed and facing several issues, she graduated after 4 years. Her then-husband “took some time off and was caught having an affair.” The woman immediately “dumped” him and focused on her career. She never met or spoke to the family again until years later.
“Many years later, she went to court as an SME (Subject Matter Expert) for a landfill management company,” the man mentioned. He added that the woman was coincidentally using her skills and degree to testify against her former father-in-law, an SME, as the landfill designer/PE stamp. “I am not 100% sure of the details except that she testified in court against her former father-in-law’s designs,” he mentioned. When the family caught up later, the woman learned that her ex-husband had dropped engineering and was now a nurse. However, her father-in-law "could not understand how a woman could beat out 120 men to be Dean's List in an engineering program,” the now-proud husband remarked.
The father-in-law acknowledged her professionalism and work. Describing the situation as an “irony,” the man’s post served as a reminder to never undermine others, especially, on account of their gender. u/poopbutt4209yeehaw said, “He can’t understand how a woman could beat out 120 men? By being better and working harder, that’s how, what a stupid sexist.” u/Piddyy3825 added, “Petty revenge is best served by succeeding brilliantly while the distractors fail marvelously.” u/acpr17 said, “I really appreciate her for standing up and doing all the hard work.”