About the Authors

  • Zainab “Zay” Elmohammed
    • Hometown – Born in The Bronx, NY but raised in Newport News, VA since I was four.
    • Why did you chose ODU? – I chose ODU because it was close to home, and I didn’t want to travel too far. I also chose ODU because they gave me the most in scholarships, and I fell in love with the campus and its easy-going environment.
    • Interests? Hobbies? – My interests are I love to watch movies and tv shows and edit videos on my laptop for fun.
    • What did you learn from this project? – I learned more and more about eugenics and how the United States has such an untalked about horrible history of sterlizing innocent people they deemed “unfit” to have children.
    • Any more fun things about you? – When I was five or six I taught myself how to say the ABCs backwards and I can still do it today. I also used to be a gymnast from 4th – 8th grade and then switched to competative cheer until my 10th grade year. Then I did color guard in my high school band for my last two years until I graduated.
    • Photo of Me:

  • Carley Towns
  • Bri Simmons
  • Girely Temoxtle
    • Hometown: I was born in Galveston, Texas, but raised in Chesapeake, Virginia for most of my life.
    • Why did I choose O.D.U? I choose ODU, because I am very attatched to my family and  eveyone lives here in Chesapeake, so I didn’t want to leave too far from home. What I love about ODU, is the many resources available on campus, and just from going on multiple tours, I knew I would like the environment. Also, I didn’t have to pay much for tution, by going to college near home, which was a bonus.
    • Interests and Hobbies? On my free times I like painting on canvases, I like relaxing and listening to music while reading a good book during my free time, I like going on adventures and I like going out.
    • What I learned from this project? What I learned from this project, is that birth control was illegal, and therefore not everyone had access to it, but also learning the devleopment of contraceptives over time and the different methods prior to the 19th century is what fascinated me the most.
    • Fun facts about me: I have played the violin since I was 10, I am the oldest in my family and the first to go to college, and I am Mexican-American and bilingual, so I speak Spanish and English.
    • Photo of me: