Tuesday, July 17, 2012

News Special: Womens' Perspectives

Romina Giving Her
Presentation
As I walked into class very calmly I couldn't help noticing that many of the girls that were already there were either nervous or anxious. I was very confused at first, and didn't know why they were acting this way until I remembered that today many of them were going to give a 2-3 minute speech about a certain article that is related to women and leadership. Thankfully it wasn't my turn to give a speech today, because I wasn't fully prepared. I took my seat and began to hear all of the presentations that the majority of the girls in the classroom gave. As I listened to what they had to say it surprised me how many of them spoke about many things that I didn't even know about! After half of the girls gave their speeches our guest speaker of the day arrived.
Having Fun With Molly and Iris During Lunch
(Poor Molly is Tired)
Ynah Being Productive
Ms. Schiller is a women involved in politics and is a current professor at Brown. She came to speak to us about the importance for women to be involved in politics. She also shared with us many stories of her experience as a politician, and how it turned out for her. Something that I enjoyed learning from her was how to deal with people who are being disrespectful to you. She said that whenever someone is being disrespectful to you in public you have to speak up at that moment and let them know that you don't like what they are saying, unless it's your boss or someone that has a higher authority. When it is someone with higher authority that has disrespected you, you must wait until it is the right moment, approach them, and respectfully let them know that they said something that made you feel uncomfortable. Once she was done speaking, the rest of the presentations continued until everyone that had to present spoke.

Student Speakers
(Left to Right)
Liliana, Priya, & Maya
Kisa also invited other guest speakers, but this time it was five students from Brown. They were all female and they came to talk to us about their experience as female leaders. They told us their ups and downs about the things that they had to go through in order to get in the place that they are. They also gave us advice on what to do in order to facilitate our action plan. They said not to start big, but to be patient and begin with small ideas that make a difference in our community, school, home, church, etc. Hearing these stories really helped me out a lot because even if my action plan doesn't turn out the way I want it to I will stay with the satisfaction that at least I tried.
(Left to Right)
Erika, Irene, & Liliana (again)

3 comments:

  1. Nice pictures! Haven't seen any for a while. And good luck on your presentation!

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  2. Abby,

    You were given outstanding advice about voicing your concerns about something said inappropriately.

    When someone makes an off-color comment or tells a joke that's socially inappropriate, we can sit back and cringe or we can POLITELY tell them that what they've said is inappropriate. You'd be surprised at how effective that can be.

    Sometimes people surround themselves with people that think like them and they fool themselves into thinking that EVERYONE thinks the same way they do. It's only when people step forward and correct them that they realize that maybe their viewpoint is not universally shared.

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  3. Thanks for the pictures, Abby! It was a pleasure to speak to you all on the panel.

    I'd like to add to the last bit of your blog post: not only should you be proud for trying your Action Plan even if it doesn't go as planned, but you can always try again, or try another kind of Action Plan. Life is full of opportunities to start projects for change, on any scale. And-- I have confidence in you (even more after talking to you yesterday at lunch).

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