For the first few years of my life, I hated wearing girls pants. While they may have been comfortable and cute, they didn’t have the one thing I always wanted. All I wished for was pockets. It was frustrating for me to have the illusion of pockets just to find out they were sewn completely shut. Though I hated it, I never had the courage to try and change it.

Even when I don’t have the courage to speak up for what I want, people like first grader Kamryn Gardner, who took a stand on this pocket issue, inspire me. 

Gardner is a first grade student in Arkansas who had the same thought as me. But unlike me, she took action. She wrote a letter to Old Navy asking them to stop sewing the pockets closed on girls’ pants. 

According to The Washington Post, the Gardner family was not expecting to get an actual response from Old Navy. But, to their surprise, they came home from vacation one day to find a box full of girls’ pants with pockets just for Kamryn.

“I want my pants to have real pockets like my brother’s pants,” Gardner said in an interview with The Washington Post.

As an elementary school student, I also didn’t understand why the boys could have so much pocket space and the girls had none. I always thought my brother was so cool, and I wanted to be like him, especially since he had the blessing of pockets.

It always baffled me because I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t be made similarly. Sure, boys and girls have a lot of differences, but are girls so different that they don’t deserve pockets too?

I always wished for this change but never thought about actually doing anything about it. I had accepted that it was normal and that I couldn’t do anything to change it. Luckily, there are people in this world like Gardner who are willing to find a way to make a change. 

Since the article from the Washington Post came out, Gardner has gotten a lot of praise from other women all around the country.

When I heard about this story, I was so happy that someone out there who had a thought like me was willing to express their opinion. I’m excited for the future of girls clothing that will have usable pockets that are actually real. And I’m excited to see how more people inspire me and change the world around them.