When Rachel Heimke was seven, she realized what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Little did she know a $40,000 BigFuture Scholarship would help her pursue her dreams.
Heimke and her parents were living an unconventional lifestyle, to say the least. The summer after she completed first grade, she and her parents boarded a sailboat and sailed from their hometown in Alaska down the Pacific Coast. The family would spend the next two years traveling on the water, passing Mexico and then sailing across the world to Australia before returning home. It was on the sailboat, watching whales and dolphins breach the water under their boat, that Heimke realized her life’s purpose.
“I was really obsessed with these little porpoises called Vaquitta, who only live in one tiny area of water off the coast of Mexico,” she recalled. “When I learned about them as a kid, there were only 22 left in the wild. Now, there are only ten.” Despite her interest, Heimke was never able to actually see any Vaquitta on her trip, both because of their inherent shyness and because they were so critically endangered due to detrimental fishing policies in the area. “That was my wakeup call,” she says. “I’ll probably never be able to see this porpoise, and I don’t want that to be true of other species.”
Now a young woman of 23, Heimke is realizing her childhood dream of ocean conservation by recently graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in ocean sciences and enrolling in a grad program in Canada to study science communication. Heimke is well on her way to achieving her childhood dream—but she acknowledges that none of this would have been possible without her ocean adventures as a child, the support of her parents, and significant financial support.
At 18, when Heimke was deciding where to study ocean sciences, she stumbled upon an opportunity from BigFuture, College Board's free college and career planning site. The opportunity was the BigFuture Scholarship, which provided students the chance to win a $40,000 scholarship by completing six action items on the website. Heimke was intrigued, since she didn’t need to provide an essay, her GPA, or any test scores to enter. Her eligibility was also not tied to citizenship status or family income, so she decided to give it a shot.
“One of the action items was just going on the BigFuture site and creating a list of colleges I was interested in,” said Heimke. Another item required her to apply for financial aid through FAFSA—something Heimke was planning to do anyway. Every completed action item gave students more chances to win the scholarship, so Heimke completed all six action items quickly.
Months later, Heimke’s parents ushered her over to a call over Zoom, where she met a BigFuture representative who had some surprising news: She was one of 25 students who had won the $40,000 BigFuture college scholarship. Each year she would receive $10,000 in scholarship funding, which would cover her entire tuition bill for all four years of schooling.
“That experience taught me that it’s really important to not give up on your goals and just go for opportunities,” said Heimke. “I never thought I would win anything, but I’ve learned it's worth applying anyway. Even a small scholarship of $1,000 can pay your rent for a month,” she said. “And If you write an essay that takes an hour and you win $5,000, that’s probably the most money per hour you’ll ever make in your life.”
The tuition money made it possible for her to attend college, and for her to apply to graduate school immediately afterward without any financial burdens.
“Now that I’m in graduate school and paying for rent and a phone bill and graduate school tuition, it’s truly a blessing to not have student loan debt on top of that,” Heimke said. Because of the BigFuture scholarship, Heimke doesn’t need to pay for her graduate program either—she’s able to fund her education with the money her parents saved by not having to pay for her undergraduate degree.
One of the biggest blessings, Heimke said, was not needing to delay graduate school to work or find extra funds. With climate change worsening, entering the workforce becomes increasingly important over time.
“I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do with my degrees, but I hope to have a lot of different jobs that ultimately will work toward saving our ocean,” she said.
As a child, witnessing marine life up close and personal was life-changing. Heimke’s goal is for future generations to have that experience, as she did.
To learn more and get started, visit bigfuture.org/scholarships.Olympic breakdancer gets musical canceled, comedian responds
Do you remember that one time breakdancing was an Olympic sport? It was short lived so if you blinked during the 2024 Paris Olympics you might have missed it. But even if you didn't see the Olympics at all, there was no escaping seeing Rachael Gunn, an Australian breakdancer that goes by the name Raygun. The breakdancer went mega viral for her interesting choices during her dance battle on the world stage.
Clips from her big moment where she did the now infamous kangaroo hop and pushed herself in a circle on the floor circulated the internet. Not only did the Aussie accidentally become a meme but she was impersonated on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. The backlash was so overwhelming from people around the world that Gunn issued an apology to the breakdancing community in Australia.
While mocking someone's abilities is considered bad form, people still find the dance moves Gunn performed at the Olympics to be amusing. This has lead to other people impersonating the dancer and one of them is a fellow Aussie, comedian Steph Broadbridge. The woman wrote "Raygun: The Musical" and was set to perform the one woman show for $10 per ticket at a local Australian venue until the breakdancer caught wind of it.
Paris Breaking GIF by NoireSTEMinistGiphy
It was then that Broadbridge found her comedic musical facing legal notice from Gunn barring her from performing her show. The letter came at an inopportune time as she was already in dress rehearsal having sold tickets to see the musical. Typically celebrities don't legally object to smaller artists poking fun at them in an impersonation, even if they're not happy about it. But Gunn may not see herself in a celebrity light which may help explain the unexpected reaction.
Broadbridge could've gotten upset or went on with the show forcing Raygun to sue, instead she decided to poke fun at the entire situation with a little dry humor. In a video on her Instagram page, Broadbridge announces the unfortunate news to her fans.
Olympics Breaking GIF by NoireSTEMinistGiphy
"I'm comedian Steph Broadbridge just hanging out in my casual day wear," the woman says as she's clearly wearing the same outfit the Olympic breakdancer wore during her dance battle. "My trail show tonight for 'Raygun: The Musical' has been canceled. Raygun's lawyers got in touch with the venue and threatened legal action so we will be refunding everyone their $10 back for that."
Obviously, Broadbridge was not putting on a full length high budget Broadway musical but that didn't stop the breakdancer from putting a halt to it. The comedian shares a surprising revelation in her announcement saying, "her lawyers trademarked my poster which is flattering, I hope they have fun with that. And they're also worried that I was damaging her brand, which I would never do. She doesn't need me to do that."
The entire video is done in deadpan which made it made the one liners pack a little more of a punch, especially when she reveals that she was told she wasn't permitted to hop like a kangaroo.
"They also said I wasn't allowed to do the dance because she owns the kangaroo dance, that one did puzzle me, I mean that's an Olympic level dance. How would I possibly be able to do that without any formal breakdance training," Broadbridge asks.
The comedian's fans were supportive of Broadbridge but were a bit miffed about Gunn putting a halt to the show with one writing, "I heard that the proceeds from the tickets sold for this were going to charity to help women and children facing homelessness. It makes it even worse that Raygun and her lawyers would still pursue this."
Another person encourages the comedian saying, "This will be amazing publicity. Just need to get it to all the news outlets."
Someone else chimes in, "Steph, this is Olympic level PR parody. How did you do this without any formal training?"
If you want to see the musical, don't worry. Broadbridge doesn't sound like she's giving up anytime soon. The Australian is planning to get around the complaint by changing the name of the main character to "Raigun" so there's no confusion. And while the letter from the breakdancers lawyers say Gunn owns the kangaroo dance, that may be something that is challenged by a court of kangaroos...a kangaroo court if you will–pun intended.
There is no exact age where kids stop believing in Santa Claus. But some research suggests that it's most common for skepticism to creep in somewhere around age 8. That's just 8 very short years of putting out milk and cookies, leaving carrots for the reindeer, and writing letters to the Big Man. Santa is such a big part of what makes Christmas magical for kids.
Once that illusion is gone, you're only a stone's throw away from everyone just giving each other sweaters and gift cards. So all the parents I know are fighting tooth and nail to keep that magic alive as their children grow older, even if it's just for one more year.
Tapley's son is 8, but has been a Santa skeptic for at least a few years. Though he hasn't quite put all the pieces together yet, he's been spotting inconsistencies and plot holes for a while now. “Reindeer can’t fly! Someone can’t go all over the world in one night! Stop lying, Daddy," Tapley says, quoting his son.
Tapley posted on X and said this about the challenge facing him this year: "My kid has been denying Santa Claus for a few years now but I just haven’t had the heart to give in. He probably thinks I’m insane by this point. Anyway, to shut me up, he insisted on setting up a camera last night."
In the embedded video, we see a crystal clear feed of the Tapleys' Christmas Eve milk and cookies set up. You can even see the Christmas tree, some stockings, and a door into the room. They've got the whole area covered. Nowhere for Santa to hide. If he exists, they're guaranteed to bust him! And if he doesn't show, Tapley's son will have his answer.
But, Tapley added, "HE DIDN'T COUNT ON DADDY'S FILM DEGREE."
As the footage rolls, the door to the room cracks open slowly. A figure begins walking through. But then, the screen goes haywire — static! When the video feed returns, the door to the room is closing, a hand pulling it shut just visible. And now the room is filled with presents. The milk is gone. The cookies have been snacked on.
There was proof alright. Proof that Santa was real, and that his magic would prevent him from ever truly being caught.
He showed his son the footage on Christmas morning and it seemed to have the intended effect. But for how long is another question.
"He’s already poking some holes in my story. 'Why doesn’t it cause a glitch when he’s on camera in other things?' That kind of thing."
Tapley's video went viral on X, racking up over a million views. Commenters loved the commitment to the bit, and the excellent display of dadding.
"As a kid, this would have me convinced until I'm 36," wrote one user.
"Well done! Keep the magic going," said another.
"He'll love you for doing [this] when he gets older," said another.
"A+ parenting!" said another, sharing their own story: "When I started having doubts about Santa, my mom typed a letter from Santa to me, printed it on fancy paper, stamped a signature and some decorations on it and left it in my stocking. I believed in Santa for a few more years, and still have the letter somewhere."
Of course, as the video spread even farther and wider than before, some Grinchy people chimed in with critiques: Of the deception and, weirdly enough, of the quality of the video edit. See what happens to people who lose sight of the fun and magic of make-believe at Christmas?
Photo by Srikanta H. U on Unsplash
It's really a tremendously sad day for parents when their kids no longer believe. Playing Santa and keeping the illusion going is fun for us and helps keep us young. Christmas will always be about spending time with the people you love, but let's face it, it loses a little something when the element of magical make-believe goes away.
Tapley knows he doesn't have much time left with his son, when it comes to Elves and the North Pole and Naughty or Nice lists. The trick video might have worked, or his son might just be playing along, but either way, he'll take it.
"I figure I bought myself another year of maintaining some of the magic."
It's easy to feel unseen.
In 2020, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the Gender Social Norms Index , which offers a look at gender equality as measured by people's personal gender bias. The data, which was collected from 75 countries covering 81% of the world's population, found that 91% of men and 86% of women show at least one clear bias against women in the areas of politics, economics, education, and physical integrity.
In other words, 9 out of 10 people worldwide—both men and women—are biased against women in vital areas that impact the world in major ways. Splendid.
It would be easy to assume that these numbers are skewed by countries where women are blatantly oppressed, and that is somewhat true. However, a majority was found to hold no gender biases in just six of the 75 countries studied—and no, the U.S. was not among them. Nope, not Canada either.
Andorra, Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden were the only countries where a majority of people showed no clear gender bias. (Andorra came on way on top, with 73% of its population showing no bias—the only country to top 70%. Go Andorra.)
Where did the U.S. and Canada stand? According to the study, 43% of Americans hold no gender bias while Canada clocks in at 48%. Basically, if you're sitting in a stadium full of people as a woman in North America, half of the people you're looking at likely harbor some kind of clear bias against you. Same goes if you're a woman competing in a sport, giving a talk at a conference, or—ahem—running for public office.
- About 50% people—both men and women—think men make better political leaders than women
- About 40% of people think men make better business leaders than women
- Close to 50% of men believe that men have more right to a job than women
- About 30% believe that it's justifiable for a man to beat his intimate partner
Ummm, that last one? Holy moly.
Being a women can feel isolating.
Photo by Briana Tozour on UnsplashWhat's just as concerning is that despite decades of progress on women's rights, bias against women is increasing in some countries among both men and women. And this is the case even among some countries that scored well on the index. Bias in top-six country Sweden, for example, actually increased over the nine years the study covered.
"The share of both women and men worldwide with moderate to intense gender biases grew from 57 percent to 60 percent for women and from 70 percent to 71 percent for men," the report states, adding: "Surveys have shown that younger men may be even less committed to equality than their elders."
Of course, we have made big strides across the globe in terms of increasing access to education, improving healthcare for women, and other areas. But women still don't have a place at most of the decision-making tables, and we obviously still have social norm hurdles to overcome to achieve true gender equality.
"We have come a long way in recent decades to ensure that women have the same access to life's basic needs as men," said Pedro Conceição, head of UNDP's Human Development Report Office. "We have reached parity in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45 percent since the year 1990. But gender gaps are still all too obvious in other areas, particularly those that challenge power relations and are most influential in actually achieving true equality. Today, the fight about gender equality is a story of bias and prejudices."
Results of the study indicate a backlash to the push for gender equality. Indeed, change is uncomfortable for many people and progress is often a two steps forward, one step back process. For sure, social norms are more complex and challenging to change than laws.
"Policymakers often focus on the tangible—on laws, policies, spending commitments, public statements and so on," the report states. "This is driven partly by the desire to measure impact and by sheer impatience with the slow pace of change. Yet neglecting the invisible power of norms would miss a deeper understanding of social change."
Social norms also directly impact progress made in all areas. Currently, no country in the world is on track to meet the gender equality goals by Sustainable Development Goal target of 2030. With stats like these, that's not shocking.
Clearly, something to keep in mind as we advocate for gender equality is how to effectively address people's core beliefs about women and equality in general. Legal progress without social progress is shaky at best, and true gender equality won't become reality unless people believe that it should.
It appears we have some serious work ahead of us on that front.
This article originally appeared four years ago.
