“Fight hard! Fight hard! Fight hard!” Cheers erupt from the crowd of protestors steadily walking forward, in a video of the Women’s March on Jan. 18, 2020. Drums beat, a slow rhythm transforming into a rapid pulse. Posters display “Men of quality do not fear equality” and “Only love can drive out hate.” Demonstrators, decked in red t-shirts, red headbands and red face paint, chant. Dogs bark as they, too, join the movement. And, marching alongside thousands of advocates who championed for change at the march, is Simone Merani (12).

After reading about women’s marches in history class and hearing about her older friends’ experiences attending marches, Simone finally fulfilled her dream of stepping into the action herself in her sophomore year. The passion of the people at the Women’s March opened Simone’s eyes to the strength of the community that supported the fight for women’s rights and empowerment.

“I didn’t know the people that I was walking next to, but everybody was there for this cause, and they were fighting for the same thing,” Simone said. “It was eye opening to see so many people coming together for one cause, and it felt like this big community that was there for each other.”

Now, as the president of Female Empowerment (FEM) club, Simone strives to foster this same sense of community at the upper school. She first joined the club in her freshman year, when she met upper school history teacher and FEM club adviser Donna Gilbert, and by the end of the year, Simone knew she wanted to play a larger role in the club.

“My first impression of [Simone] was that she was fully committed to the club and was bristling with ideas,” Gilbert said. “She wanted to jump right in and was willing to take responsibility along with upperclassmen at the time.”

After stepping into a leadership role in the club in her sophomore year, Simone began to attend and lead more meetings. She fondly remembers mentoring fourth and fifth graders online in her junior year and introducing them to basic ideas of feminism.

“That was one of my favorite events that I’ve done with the club because the kids were so young, but they were also so engaged with the topic,” Simone said. “They were asking really insightful questions. It’s interesting to see how they’ve also learned about these topics, maybe from their parents, or seen inequality in front of groups on the playground.”

Since then, Simone has spearheaded a partnership with IGNITE, an organization that inspires young women in politics, and led an all-school meeting on sexual assault awareness. What Simone most treasures about the club are the discussions that provide a platform for students to openly share thoughts and opinions.

“People will come to meetings already armed with opinions, armed with their own questions they already knew or they’ve done research or they were already interested in the topic,” Simone said. “It was interesting to have these powerful discussions that I haven’t had anywhere else.”

To Simone, serving as the leader of FEM club means providing a safe space for members. Leading these conversations means hearing new perspectives and, as a result, learning more about her peers.

“For me, it’s [about] creating a space for people to have a conversation or feel safe in a certain space, like, ‘Oh, I can come to these meetings and express my own opinion without being judged or share stuff about myself that I may not share elsewhere,’” Simone said. “People come to meetings and I’ve never talked to them, but through this one meeting, I’ve learned a lot about them and more about who they are. To me, that’s really special.”

Simone finds her own safe space in Indian classical dance, where she has trained in classes and performed in competitions for the past 12 years. She attended a dance school, in which she took exams to pass levels, which culminated in her recently earning a diploma.

“[Simone’s] dedication to dance is something that stands out,” close friend Anoushka Khatri (12) said. “She had to take exams to get an honorary degree in it, and that dedication to continue and keep going for so many years, that’s really admirable.”

The moments before the exams, the moments when Simone and her fellow dancers gather nervously while chatting with each other to calm down, are the ones Simone cherishes the most. Yet, when Simone steps onto the stage, she’s there on the stage: her mind and her body.

“When I’m dancing, I’m not thinking about anything else, because I’m so focused on the dance, focusing on getting the moves right,” Simone said. “I’m not thinking about what test I have next week, but for that one or two hours I’m in class, this is what I’m focused on. I’m with my friends too, so it’s fun, but I’m also learning.”

Many Indian classical dances find their roots in religious folklore. Through researching the stories and backgrounds of her dances and learning “what emotions you’re actually showing,” Simone both found connection with Hinduism, her parents’ religion, and became more positive and supportive of herself. Simone recalls how she used to deliberately mess up her routines because she didn’t believe she could perform as well as her peers.

“I didn’t feel as confident when I started dancing because I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing; I didn’t think I could be a dancer,” Simone said. “As I grew up, I was able to tell myself, ‘No, you’re interested in this dance, so let yourself learn it, and if you make mistakes, it’s fine.’ At the end, you know that you’re interested, you know that you love dancing, and [dance was] somewhere where I was genuinely happy.”

Learning to leap longer and further, Simone now expresses herself more confidently, both on and off the dance floor, a change she credits to her dance teacher for helping her develop belief and trust in herself in addition to dance techniques.

“I’ve been able to be myself through dance,” Simone said. “If I can be confident through dance, I can be confident in anything else I do, because I went through the journey through dance, [from] being scared to being confident. If I’m entering something new, I know that if I believe in myself, if I’m there for myself, and if I’m supporting myself, I’m telling myself positive things, [I] can do anything [I] want.”

As Simone developed in her own character through dance, she realized the importance of being there for herself as her own biggest supporter, the person who knows and understands best her own strengths and shortcomings, a value that extends from her as a dancer to her as a leader in the women’s rights movement and beyond.

“Being there for yourself and supporting yourself in your endeavors and achievements is a big part of the feminist movement,” Simone said. “Being the president is something I’ve also had to grapple with. People ask me questions about certain topics that I don’t know, and it’s okay if I don’t know — whatever position you are [in], you’re always learning new things, and that’s my favorite aspect of FEM club. There’s so much to learn about the movement.”

Additional reporting by Heidi Lu.