“Educated” suggests that Dr. Westover’s education is complete. But I believe our work is never done.

Memoirs are a reflection not simply on what was, but how that affects what is. That reflection is missing in Dr. Tara Westover’s wildly popular memoir Educated. What she is missing out on is the opportunity to address a massive and impossible question: How can we improve education for everyone? This is a great moment for Dr. Westover to step up as a survivor and a potential leader, someone who can maybe help others in her situation, with bold ideas for change— brave, and again perhaps impossible solutions for girls who grew up like she did. But she doesn’t. She approaches the ledge, looks down, and then backs away. Accountability is key here. Dr. Westover is accountable for her beliefs AND for her silence in the lack of her beliefs.

I won’t settle not because I hate Tara Westover or her story. Quite the opposite. I won’t settle because I love Tara Westover. I love her as much as I can love a stranger, a fellow writer, a fellow woman. I’m here to challenge her because I care. Love is work, after all.

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