Today I want to talk about a program that I organized that took place today. Over the course of the last few weeks, I have been managing this event as well as working on my senior project. Oh, and before you say "Elizabeth, giving away prom dresses has nothing to do with engineering" just hear me out :) I'm sure you will catch the connection by the end!
The event was titled "Ball Gown Bash" and it was a non-profit event organized for the sole purpose of getting young high school girls a prom dress. The event was hosted today and nearly 50 girls showed up and only three left without a dress. These girls are living heartbreaking stories in which life is not always the prettiest. A few of the girls were homeless, others were in a situation where they couldn't facilitate prom financially. However, my co-organizer and I realized the importance of showing girls how truly beautiful they are starting from the youngest of ages. This event focused on bringing out young girl's confidence through providing them resources to feel beautiful. While the event was truly breathtaking and some of the stories were incredible, I bring it up because I think it reveals something important about our society.
Despite all of the new programs for women within different fields, we all still struggle with self-confidence issues. This not only seeps into our confidence socially but in life in general. Personally, I even believe this can influence academics on a major level. Girls who are not comfortable with who they tend to blend into the crowd - not stand out. Thus, women don't always want to pursue career paths that are non-traditional because they don't want to draw any negative attention to themselves.
I believe that through a variety of programs that are being put into place, women are starting to take pride in their individuality and are therefore becoming increasingly bold in their actions. However, I think this could be an interesting reason for why less women pursue engineering. When facing obstacles, the best thing to have on your side is confidence. I think it's super important for women to gain this.
My event today helped me see a greater perspective of the different life story that each individual has. I think the best approach to drawing girls into engineering would be to build their confidence because in accepting who they are I believe they might accept that they want to follow their dreams no matter how they might be viewed for doing so!
Below are some photos from the event. I hope these smiling faces bring as much joy to your heart as they did for me <3
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| The girls who attended the event were able to look and choose any dress from the five shown here. Then they were able to find all their needed accessories at the tables in the front! |
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| To promote the event to the local community a few days prior to the event the local news came, shown above, to ask for last minute donations and to get a few more girls to sign up to recieve a dress! |
That is fantastic. I believe one of the best ways to grow is to help others. Confidence is huge in engineering. When your boss comes up to you and asks if you can do something, you are expected to say yes and get it done. Without confidence, they will not trust you with the work, the project may be delayed because you second guess yourself, and if there is a reduction of employees, you may find you are the first to go. When asked a question, look them in the eye and confidently say yes you can.
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