Planning it out

I thought this TEDWomen Talk from Sheryl Sandberg--the COO of Facebook--is kind of what we want Ladies of Chinquapin to be about. We'd like for the women in our community to strive to achieve their goals and not be afraid to speak out. Sandberg does a great job of explaining how women shouldn't undersell themselves, shouldn't let fears about the future deter them, and shouldn't be afraid to rely on their spouse.



I don't want Ladies of Chinquapin to revolve completely around business, but I think Sandberg has a lot to say about women in general--not just in the workplace. These are the type of ideals I'd like for Ladies of Chinquapin to teach.

Baby Steps

During the summer, I decided that I would create a movie. I planned for it to be an hour long, move my audience and give a feeling of accomplishment to all those would have helped. However, I've now changed my idea.
While riding on the bus, Ana and I began to discuss our senior project. She wanted to help teenage girls that were going through the same issues she went through. She was forced to face her problems on her own, and didn't want someone else to do the same. I asked her who she would help. The girls in Houston? The girls in Denver Harbor? She didn't know. So, I suggested she start with the girls in our Chinquapin community.

Now, there was already a group like this at Chinquapin not too long ago. Ana and I began to reminisce about the days of Women's Group. The girls went to a career day together, took an italian cooking class together, and had planned many more activities. Unfortunately, the group began to fade away my 9th grade year, in 10th grade it was just a shadow of it's former self, and by 11th grade there wasn't a trace of the group left.

We found this really heartbreaking because we felt there was a strong need for Women's Group. Yes, there's a Young Women's Group for the middle school girls (and this has been extremely helpful for the younger girls on campus), but there's nothing for the older girls at Chinquapin. We need help and guidance, too. We still need support and advice. We're still confused about things in life.

Although Ana had decided to take her project in a different direction, our conversation really stuck with me. It affected me so deeply that I decided to change my project altogether. So, I have partnered up with another classmate, Ale, and we've decided to bring the Ladies of Chinquapin to our community.