Prompt: Pick one woman — an historical figure, fictitious character, or modern individual — to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. 

The first thing I’d say to Ilana Wexler would be “thank you for your honesty.” I’d tell her that I appreciate her for being her most chaotic, truest self. Before I started watching Broad City, I’d never seen a woman wear blood-stained jeans to the airport and talk about boob sweat. Ilana taught me that womanhood is messy. Ilana makes no apologies for who she is and how she chooses to live her life.

Ilana wears dog jackets to work, takes naps in bathroom stalls, and has the mantra “Ilana, Rihanna, Madonna.” Whether she is making her monthly appearance at work, dog- walking in Prospect Park, or chatting with friends Jaime and Abbi, she exudes confidence. She taught me to never apologize for who I am or be ashamed of my eccentricities. I am in awe of the way that Ilana loves herself and those around her. When her love-interest, Lincoln, leaves her, Ilana does not put this other woman down in attempt to make herself feel better. Instead, she tells her friend that Lincoln left her for ‘another queen’. Even in distress, Ilana supports those around her and insists on spreading positivity. “How do you manage to stay optimistic when everything around you seems bleak?”, I would ask her.

“You have taught me the value of sisterhood”, I’d tell Ilana. It doesn’t matter if she is talking to her best friend Abbi or a stranger she meets on the street, Ilana generously compliments them and aims to be supportive and kind. I would tell Ilana that her positivity has changed my relationship with the women who surround me. Instead of seeing my classmates, my friends, and my acquaintances as competition or potential threats to my own success, I see them as Ilana does. I see them as my sisters.