Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Women In Leadership Sept. 7, 2011

The third Women In Leadership class was this week, and we really made use of our time! We had four guest speakers come in to speak with us about issues relating to women, school, politics, and more.

My favorite speaker was second, a woman named Melissa Gilbert who we'll be working with over the course of the semester mentoring middle school/elementary school students. She showed us an example of an exercise we could do with young girls to boost their confidence and foster leadership. The activity made me think about all the barriers women and girls have to overcome from a very young age. Granted, women have made great strides in the preceding decades, but when I look at my peers and  I still see so many submissive, minimized girls trapped by the gender role society has assigned to them. I personally have been ridiculed and judged for being an outspoken, aggressive woman and the injustice of these experiences are hard to swallow. Melissa Gilbert's presentation was hopeful, inspiring, and I can't wait to begin the mentoring process. In highschool, I met a teacher who became a mentor and friend. She changed the way I thought about feminism and did all she could to empower the young and often voiceless girls who attended my school. Since then I've wanted to inspire girls to become strong, confident, and outspoken, but I didn't know how. This class gave me a start in the right direction. I have since found my self searching for a possible career empowering young women, I truly can't imagine anything more fulfilling.

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