by Rachel Barter ’27 on November 6, 2025
Opinion
During these past two weeks, I have gone to two incredible non-fiction book talks: Malala Yousafi’s Finding My Way and Dr. Mallary Tenore Tarpley’s Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery. Although the two books are different in topic and author experience, it was extremely interesting and enriching to hear two women’s perspectives on traumatic events that occurred in their lives and how they were able to begin healing and navigating life after their trauma.
Malala Yousafi’s Finding My Way details how Yousafi navigated her life after being shot in 2012 by the Taliban in Pakistan while advocating for girls’ education. This attack was intended to silence her activism. She discusses how after being shot and becoming a world-renowned activist overnight, she still struggles with her trauma; it has taken her a lot of time and effort to adjust to being a “normal” person who goes to college, while simultaneously being expected to lead the charge for the right for girls to receive an education across the world.
Dr. Mallary Tenore Tarpley’s Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery explores the difficulty and daily challenges that accompany recovering from an eating disorder, including slips. Tarpley highlights the never-ending struggles when you are on the road to recovery for an eating disorder and how a “middle place” exists where survivors of eating disorders can inhibit, which emphasizes the inevitability of slips while still remaining on the road to recovery and moving forward.
Despite never having experienced a threat to my education as a woman nor having an eating disorder, I found these two books to be extremely valuable, given that they specifically expose me to other points of view and issues across the world that I may never have actually had to think of or personally deal with otherwise.
At Providence College, one of our main slogans is that we should seek more, which encompasses how I felt after both of the book talks. Instead of learning and reading about an experience or perspective, I am stepping into someone else’s shoes to better understand their diverse perspectives and situations. This practice of seeking more through diverse knowledge serves to broaden our worldview and develop empathy for other people and their experiences. I have effectively expanded my knowledge, raised my awareness on such issues and experiences, challenged preconceived notions by questioning my own assumptions and biases, and, lastly, encouraged critical thinking, which helps me to question and reflect on my own beliefs and perspective.
I encourage everyone to expand their reading palates to seek more knowledge and attain more diverse perspectives in order to create a more inclusive and empathetic society, especially for those who are marginalized and have traumatic experiences. It is important to remember that it is not the job of the oppressed or the victims of societal pressures to fight against and raise awareness, but it is through our privilege as people who have not experienced such traumatic events or conditions to call attention to the problems in our society and across the greater world. Our new knowledge and understanding can assist us with making positive changes to benefit others, which we should view as benefiting ourselves as one human race.
Perhaps we can take pages from Yousafi’s and Dr. Tarpley’s books to strive to create an inclusive and empathetic world we are proud to call home!