UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Usually, when I wake up to the sound of raindrops hitting the roof over my head, it genuinely makes me smile. Whether I head out to face the big, bad world or have the luxury of hibernating under a pile of blankets with some hot tea and a stack of good books and movies, the rain is welcomed, especially in L.A. But on the first Friday of this past February, when my alarm went off and I heard that pitter patter coming from somewhere overhead, all I could think was, “Oh no!” I was terrified that six months of planning were about to go down the drain. I had this fear that the rain was going to keep people from heading out to CSW’s Thinking Gender conference, an event that so many people had worked so hard to make happen.