Whenever I tell men I’m studying neuroscience, I usually get them making some comment about whether I’m smart or not. It puts me in an awkward position because I appear to have only two options: coming off a pretentious by responding, yea, I’m a genius or coming off as insecure by dismissing my intelligence. Back when I was younger and a lot less confident, I would have chosen the latter option.

But now, I usually tell people that I work hard to achieve what I want. I don’t attribute my accomplishments to luck. I find that recognizing my work ethic and perseverance has significantly increased my confidence because it shows that my potential is not defined by numbers or labels society has given me. Ladies who have been asked if they’re “smart”, or had their intelligence come into question in any conversation with a man, how do you respond?