Environment's Impact on Personal Development: Genie Pedagogos' Experience

“The environment you grow up in shapes who you are” asserted Genie Pedagogos. It was a brisk winters morning at the Methodist Ladies College, as Genie reflected on the life that one friend described as “More than amazing”. Pedagogos, from a very young age, began to understand that the environment someone grew up in shaped the person they became. After coming from an immigrant family of Greek background and being a single child, life was not always easy for her, but the environment she was provided with is the sole reason for her success in many facets of her life today. As a qualified doctor, mother, and wife, the truth behind Genie Pedagogos is that she believes in creating the right environment for all those around her regardless of their

When Pedagogos was completing her degree, the industry was extremely sexist and male dominated, mind you, although this insipid view that people had has improved greatly, sexism is still present in hospitals around in Australian and around the world. Entering medicine made Genie “thrilled”. It was an honour for Genie as she wanted to give back to society and in term, create a stronger environment for those she treated so that they too could have a greater life. It was when she first entered her job the Royal Melbourne she realised she was the victim of being the “wrong gender, wrong socio-economic class, [and having the] wrong everything”. It was very early on when Genie first encountered sexism; during a lecture, a man used a female student as a prop with her breasts practically hanging out. This was deemed acceptable for many, but for Genie, it was a disgrace. The environment that Genie was exposed to at hospitals was not healthy for any female. In her view, to gain some sort of respect from a male doctor you “couldn’t be as good as them, you had to be better”. It wasn’t only males who acted this way. Female nurses during Genie’s intern year attempted to “gun you [her] down, waiting for you [her] to slip up”, they were very spiteful in their actions and “destroyed many women’s career”. Recently a male doctor said to Genie “we all know you’re not a true woman”, as well as various emails stating “why aren’t you at home? This environment was “interesting”, and yet, despite these further road bumps, Genie learnt to “ignore the status quo” which led to her being one of the most well known Nephrologist (Kidney specialised Doctor) in Australia; she helped create many positive environments for people to grow