Nov. 30

Doesn't fifteen weeks seem like such a long time? Just thinking about it back in September made me cringe, how it would drag on and on, never ending. But here we are! I honestly haven't quite processed it yet. It can't possibly be the end of the semester already. And this means our Women in Leadership will meet one final time.

In our second-to-last class, our guests were women from the family that owns Donatos Pizza. It was so entertaining to hear from the mother-daughter-cousin trio. I don't think our class is especially intimidating to the awesome women on our weekly panels, I think these guests were more comfortable simply because they were so familiar with one another, and their stories were all directly related. Each of them shared their stories, and a theme that I got from each was the importance of doing something you love. This is a lesson we hear all the time, but hearing it from these women in person, how even though they each took their lives down very different paths, they went with work that made them happy. And that really showed in the way they spoke about their careers. It really hit home how much difference it will make if you do the work you love.

When I think back on this class, the experience is somewhat surreal. We have met truly inspirational women. Every week, there are talented, poised, and kind women willing to share their time, stories, and advice with us. I've really been struck by how each of our guests is different from the others, yet they all stress some of the same points. How many times did we hear about the importance of mentors and networking? Every single week. But more than that, over and over we listened as our panels stressed value of doing the best work, believing in ourselves, and being supportive of others. That last one is my favorite. I know I've been lucky so far in my life. I have wonderful friends and family who have encouraged me and supported my decisions and helped me anytime I needed it. I feel like the best thing I can do is to try to help others just as much. Being positive, a good influence, and paying forward all the good fortune I've had; these are my goals, and Women in Leadership has had a huge impact in the shaping of those ambitions for me.

Nov. 16

Common Book Convocation

City of Refuge, this year's common book, is not a quiet story. Every page is filled with emotion that is impossible to ignore. Consequently, I was surprised at the common book convocation, where author Tom Piazza came to speak on campus. I don't know exactly what I expected, but certainly not the soft-spoken man who addressed the auditorium. The calmness with which he spoke about the devastation he felt during Hurricane Katrina and that he has endured since then was compelling. He obviously had very strong feelings about the events. He compared watching the destruction take place from the safety of a different state with hearing your closest friend being beaten and not being able to do anything to stop it. Hearing someone speak about a city with so much affection was almost bizarre, especially considering that New Orleans is not Tom Piazza's lifelong home, although it is undoubtedly his home now. He moved there as an adult, having always been fascinated by it. His passion for the city made me stop and wonder if I am that attached to my own hometown.

It was a great experience to hear him speak firsthand about what lead him to write this novel and to be able to make connections with the things he says and different ideas expressed by characters and passages in the book. I really think the book was one way that this man, who made an impression to me as being fairly quiet and very in control of his emotions, to express what he and thousands of other New Orleans residents felt during Hurricane Katrina.

Nov. 9: Leading Myself

To say I have learned a lot so far in the Women in Leadership class is an understatement.   We have had the opportunity to meet and speak with so many influential women over the past few months that I can barely believe it.  Their poise and wisdom has inspired me week after week, and the lessons they bring to us very class are both surprising, but at second glance, kind of common sense.

                One thing that has been brought up again and again in class is the importance of networking.  I had never thought of this before, but of course it makes sense to make connections with other women.  Who would better understand the obstacles we face?  Meeting and talking with and bonding with other women navigating the professional world is one of the most highly recommended activities we have heard about.  This is a piece of advice I will be sure to keep in mind in the future as I decide what I want to do.

                Another topic that we hear a lot about in class kind of goes along with networking, and that is the necessity for women to build each other up and be supportive of one another.  It is such a stereotype of catty women being mean to each other for no reason other than the fact that it is just what they do, but that absolutely doesn’t have to be the case.  I’m not sure how true the stereotype actually holds in real life, but I do think the idea of it sometimes intimidates women from helping each other as much as they otherwise might.  It is up to all women to start defying that formula so that we can all thrive even more.

                The most important idea that we cover in class fairly often is the role self-confidence plays in anyone’s success.  Men and women all suffer from lacking self-confidence at times, but in class we talk about women.  And it is crucial to not be intimidated if you happen to be the only woman at the table, or in the room, or on the board.  The only reason you should not be fully confident in your own abilities is if you haven’t earned everything you’ve received.  As long as you give every task, assignment, and venture everything you have, there is no reason for you to be unsure of yourself.

Nov. 2

I had so much fun in class last Wednesday.  We had a really relaxed meeting at Dr. Krendl's house, where we ate cookies, drank cider, and passed the usual three and a half hours quickly in the friendly setting.  Our panel was 3 women who spoke to us about the importance of diversity.  They each had different experiences and worked in different sectors of industry for varying amounts of time, but they all agreed that diversity is one of the most important aspects of business today.  I agree with this wholeheartedly.  I think it is crucial to have people around who have different backgrounds, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions than ourselves.  This forces us to think about how each decision affects other groups of people and even to justify those decisions to them.  I think this keeps people and businesses a lot more accountable to those they should be working to please.  Along with the relevance of the issue they were discussing, the energy of the women on the panel made it that much more enjoyable.  They obviously have a lot of passion for the subject of diversity and the positive impact it has on those who take the time to embrace it.

Oct. 26

In class this week we heard from a panel of women who have been involved in different levels of politics.  This group was incredibly interesting and inspiring.  Politics is one field in which women are still fairly far from equality with men, and the women on the panel are some of those who are working and have accomplished so much for us in this area.  I found it very entertaining the way that they all seemed to know each other, or at the very least had met along their different paths.  They easily identified with one another on shared experiences and struggles and feelings of accomplishment in the political arena.
I have a lot of respect for anyone who has the guts to get involved with politics professionally.  Everyone has seen how even a casual debate between friends can quickly become heated and emotional, so I can't imagine how intense it would be to actually have to run a campaign and live that pressure on a daily basis.  However, their advice to go out and get involved and volunteer with campaigns was really inspiring, and I think I will probably do just that for the upcoming 2012 presidential election.  These women were truly admirable in their accomplishments and bravery, and I really hope we see even more women following in their footsteps in the future.

Oct. 19

 Last week, we heard from a panel of three women who work in the business sector. So far, it seems like our panels have been composed mainly of women who work for non-profit organizations, so this was an interesting change of pace. All three women took very different paths to their current careers, but each story was interesting in its own ways. I really appreciated the fact that they all agreed that although we might not think we want to go into business later on, neither did they. I don't know at all what I want to do after college so it means a lot to me to know that other people felt the same way but found careers that made them happy and at which they are successful.

I forgot to post a blog entry before class last week, so I will just add that entry here. Last week was the first full week following fall break. Many people had a great time going home and staying with their families for the 5 day break. I decided to stay here at Otterbein over break. But I still got some family time because my mom and one of her sisters were driving to West Virginia to see one of their other sisters, so they stopped here on their way and I went with them and we had a relaxed, fun day of shopping and catching up. I couldn't help but make the connection between my mother and four sisters and the Women in Leadership class.

Mom is the youngest of six children, five girls. They grew up in the same small town I did- the same house even. I have a huge amount of respect for them. They grew up in a completely different time, obviously. I don't feel that I personally encounter adversity due to being a woman. But I know they did. Between the five of them, they have worked in the medical, education, business, and financial sectors, and, I'm sure, a few others that I just haven't heard about yet. And they did this when it was incredibly difficult for women to even be considered in those fields, let alone be able to succeed. I can't explain how proud I am of my mother and her family. I feel that women like them were among the generation that broke through so many of the “glass ceilings” that women my age can barely imagine. In most cases, we are now given an equal amount of respect as men, but we don't have to fight for it quite like our mothers did. Of course I love my mom, but she happens to also be one of the best people I know. The experiences that got her where she is today made her into a strong, caring, and wonderful person, and she has four sisters with the same qualities. This group of women are one of the standards by which I judge my own success, and even though that at times is an intimidating standard, I am so glad that I have such influences in my life.

Sept. 28

This week it was very interesting to hear from women who had each had such unique experiences in their respective fields. Although each of them had taken very different career paths, their stories overlapped in some ways. This is a theme I have noticed is recurring with our speakers. No matter how different their fields of work may be, they have all gone through some common experiences. For example, they all seem to have had to deal with some level of adversity due to gender over their time in the workplace. Many of them also have been in situations in which they are the only female in the room, at the table, or on the committee. I really enjoy hearing from all of these women and learning their stories.

This week I attended an FYE event. As part of the Ocsoberfest, I tried to walk the lines in the Campus Center wearing “beer goggles.” I kind of regretted deciding to try this event once I had the goggles on and was attempting to stay on that line. It seemed like such an easy task before, but those goggles made it nearly impossible to stay on the line. I was mildly embarrassed to be stumbling around the CC while people walked past, going to and leaving dinner. But it really impressed on me how difficult alcohol makes simple tasks like walking a straight line. It worries me that people actually try to drive while in that state, so I hope all the people who gave this FYE a try will keep the experience in mind if they are ever in a situation where they might be tempted to drive drunk.