Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Today's Girls and Academics


It’s been quite a ride on the academic roller coaster I've been strapped to for the last four years. Challenging myself in high school with Honors and AP classes was a path I decided to take even before freshman year started. However, I never knew what a jam-packed intellectual schedule would entail for years to come.
After two years of straight A’s and only a mild amount of struggling, junior year came swiftly. It was already time to study for the SAT for the whole summer, visit colleges, and sign up for AP tests. I became overwhelmed with tons of extracurricular activities and hours of homework and studying, not to mention cross country or track every day after school. I spent each night in my room with my head in a book and a pen in my hand. I had conquered yet another year—by far the worst yet—with just one “B” on my transcript. The summer swept in to save the day.
Or so I thought. More college visits and scholarship searches began, and the days of laying on the beach and swimming in the pool diminished at an exponential rate. September rolled around at maximum speed, bringing the start of senior year and college applications along with it. I experienced a huge reality check when I already had an AP Calculus 2 test on the second day of school, and my AP English summer assignment was not up to par with the teacher. Worry immediately set in as I scrambled to fit everything into my schedule. Homework was pushed to 2 o’clock in the morning because clubs and sports were so time consuming after school.
The lack of sleep crumbled my mental state. I began worrying constantly, having nightmares (in the little time that I did sleep) about specific exams taking place in my bedroom or receiving rejection letters from all of the colleges I applied to. After a dramatic anxiety attack in school, I took a step back. I began thinking, what is the point of all of this?
I mulled over the root cause of all of my anxiety and stress. Obviously, getting into a top-notch university is a dream that doesn't come easy. I then remembered the reason I wanted to try so hard in the first place. As a girl, with much of my motivation coming from Alice Paul and the Women’s Rights movement, becoming successful and influential would be an accomplishment on behalf of all women. I remembered that becoming a prosperous and well-educated woman is something worth every bit of hard work and determination. I hope to create a background for myself in Chemical Engineering (my prospective major) that will motivate younger women in high school to work to achieve their goals as well. Suddenly, a bit of the weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
When I look around at school, I see many intelligent, responsible, and involved young women with bright futures. The first 5 students in the class are actually all girls this year (one of them being me!) However, more young women should be striving for a higher potential for themselves. The first step is a rigorous high school education. In the future, I will use the skills that I have harnessed in school to help bring up other girls to the peak of the mountain with me. 
-Kiersten Campbell

Female Entertainers


There are so many highly known and loved female entertainers. So it was hard for me to pick just three. But these following women are ones that I look up to and have worked hard to achieve their goals.

Ellen Degeneres is an entertainer that I look up to. Ellen is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She has hosted award ceremonies, been in many movies, been a judge on American Idol and is loved around the world. She hosts the talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.  The Ellen DeGeneres Show is a talk show where Ellen gives tremendously to others while having a good time and making people laugh. She helps people all over the country in ways you couldn't imagine. In 1997 on the The Oprah Winfrey Show she came out publicly as a lesbian. Ellen is also a CoverGirl and a huge animal lover/rescuer. Degeneres is 55 and still going strong.

Julie Elizabeth Andrews is a women that has entertained many generations. Julie Andrews is a 77 year old English film and stage actress, singer, author, theatre director, and dancer. Julie is a former child actress and singer who appeared on the West End in 1948, and made her Broadway debut in a 1954 production of The Boy Friend. In 2000, she was made a Dame for services to the performing arts by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.She has received many awards such as  of Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Theatre World Award,Grammy Award, BAFTA, People's Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild honours. In 1957, Julie appeared on television with the main role in Cinderella, which was seen by over 100 million viewers. And she is still the voice in many animated movies.

Alicia Keys is another world renowned iconic entertainer. Alicia Keys is an American singer-songwriter and  actress. She graduated at  16 as the valedictorian of Professional Performing Arts School in New York City. Her debut album with J Records, Songs in A Minor, sold over 12 million copies.  Keys has many achievements and awards to be proud of. Billboard magazine named her the top R&B songs artist of the 2000's decade. She was on VH1’s  list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2010. Throughout her career, she has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide and has won numerous awards. Also Alicia will be singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the 2013 Super Bowl this year.
These are just some of the wonderful women that entertain us everyday. All of these women are independentsmart, funny people that we all look up to. It is no question that women can entertain just as well and sometimes even better than men. Women like these give us encouragement and hope that we can achieve greatness just like them
-Christina DeSalvo

Friday, February 1, 2013

Shifting and Imprinting, Making Our Mark in the Business Industry


Hello, this is Daphni again.
I am pleased to announce that the Girl’s Advisory Council blog is up and running again after the holiday break!
Our comeback topic is about business and gender roles in the industry.
Not only should this post provide advice to young women interested in business, but it should also answer questions like the following:
  1. What does the industry really look like?
  2. How are women fairing in the world of business today?


First off, this topic was influenced by a recent event. I am president of a club called Gender Equality Forum at my school. In an attempt to both raise awareness of important issues and to reach out to more students I started a speaker series. I reached out to Ms. Michele Dorris, a remarkable woman who has invested time volunteering with the Alice Paul Institute. She came to my school and informed many of us about the topics I will be covering in this post. Ms. Dorris majored in Chemical Engineering for her undergrad, and to this day she has covered almost every possible position offered in the industry. She currently works in General Management as a Team Captain/Leader for one of America’s top corporations, Campbell’s.
There’s Good News!
In 2010, Forbes reported that the most popular college major for women was Business. This is positive because, in terms of marketability, business ranks high. Additionally, although men continue to dominate in many majors with the highest earning potential, like in engineering and computer science, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has estimated that in a matter of years we should see significant increases in the percentage of women majoring in the industries that tend to pay the most. For example, the BLS expects the field of engineering to grow 11% by 2018!!
So, what is the catch?
Competition. Many women want to major in business so the challenge is to make oneself stand out. How?

Michele Dorris brilliantly suggests, “Exploit your strengths; understand your weaknesses and fight them.” In other words, be able to do a little bit of everything, and attempt to not let “weaknesses” be used to your disadvantage.

Additionally, Ms. Michele Dorris recommends getting degrees in something like Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, etc. before going into Business. The more one knows the more marketable one becomes.

On the topic of marketability, if a woman can show she understands the interconnectedness of today’s market economy, her chances of quickly climbing the corporate ladder increases. To do this, a woman might travel, learn a language, research a culture, understand a people’s mannerisms etc. All of this comes in handy.


With the post I would like to leave everyone with one final concept.
When asked about what advice she would give to women in regards to gender roles in the industry, Michelle Dorris said all of the following:
  1. Learn to be tough and assertive
  2.  To earn respect when you have a leadership position, you must give discipline when it’s deserved 
  3.  Utilize your connections; Have mentors
  4. Manage, Organize, Prioritize




 Sources:

-Daphni Sawyer