Let's Be Ourselves

It's so easy to become someone else, or to allow yourself to be extremely influenced by your fellow peers. This especially seems to occur in girls. It begins in middle school when the quote "mean girls" or even just inner (or outer) "peer pressure" makes you feel like you are suppose to be a certain way. Whether this is how you dress, how you act, or how you speak. 

The bad part of this is that all at once you are not you. You are not the person God created you to be. I say this not as a judgement because I have found myself in those shoes; and in the shoes of another trying be more "like them". Even as recently as a year ago, I was not being my whole self. Now it was not the same level as middle school where I was not necessarily trying to please a "mean girl", but I was trying to please myself. I was trying to discover who I was.

This I know is a lifelong journey...discovering who we are. It is a never ending cycle of ups and downs. Yet we need to encourage ourselves, our sisters or daughters or friends to be ourselves more times than not. We will have times of conflict where we are uncertain of who we are or comparing ourselves to another we make look up too. That is simply a human emotion. 

However as fellow women we can encourage each other to be ourselves. Empower each other by complimenting the uniqueness of another. It is not about comparing who did what better, but what is original and fabulous about our individual women colleagues, friends, etc. 

Yes, there is business. In a business world competition is inevitable and sometimes necessary. I am not saying that it about submitting ourselves to underachievement or not doing our best, but build each other up not down. Encourage each other so it is not so difficult to be ourselves when we feel being ourselves is not okay.

Encourage yourself too. Let your inner voice be a positive not a negative one. I know I struggle with not being my own worse enemy. It is a daily battle and always will be. There is not an easy solution. However you can ease the burden of being human, being a woman by uplifting each other. With time maybe the inner and outer voices can be positive instead of derogatory. 

Let's Support Each Other

I do absolutely love social media. It's amazing how with one click of a button, you're instantly connected to someone that could be down the street or halfway around the world. This phenomenon that is social media, is opening up a whole new world for women to connect and support each other. 

If you ask my family or close friends, they all know my favorite connection story that began with one Twitter message. This message of encouragement sparked a determination in me that has never dwindled. 

In October of 2011, almost two years ago exactly, NBC journalist Ann Curry sent me a message on Twitter. In this 140 character message she told me to dream big, because what to us seems impossible, is probable if only we do not give up. 

I was so amazed and surprised by this message from a well known journalist who has millions of followers on Twitter. Yet she saw a viewer of her's look to her with admiration, and she took a simple moment to encourage me. It was a way of supporting my dream and it has forever impacted me. 

Since that message that was sent to me two years ago, I've taken her message of encouragement to heart and am actively pursuing my journalism dreams. 

I've entered college and launched with another fellow classmate a news station on our campus. I've been writing for an international news magazine and taking every opportunity I can to see my overall dreams realized.

This simple act of kindness that Ann Curry extended to me, is something we all should follow. Women are so constantly in competition with each other, it's kind of sad. 

It 's as if we cannot move beyond the insecure days of middle school where we wanted to be the "prettiest" or the "coolest" and if anyone go it before us, well that just was not okay.

In today's society, women face enough obstacles and criticisms as we pursue goals. Let us not be each others' obstacles but each others' encouraging supporters.

Ann Curry did so for me and it made all the difference. Why don't we do the same with the fellow women in our lives? Let's support each other not compete with each other. 

My ultimate dream is to meet the very lady who first encouraged me. She changed my life and I would so be honored to one day be able to thank Ann Curry in person. 

Encourage a fellow woman today. It may make all the difference now but most especially will in the long run. 

Let's Start a Conversation

Recently I've become empowered by an issue I was not completely aware of or knew I would find so much passion behind. However, one of my college classes got my mind going and now I want to get a conversation going.

This conversation?

The lack of equality for women. How can I as a college woman change this for myself and my peers? 

My first awareness for this came when I was leafing through the magazine, Cosmopolitan. Inserted into this particular issue was a mini-magazine entitled Cosmo Careers. On the cover was Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer. In it she discussed woman and careers with a snippet from her book, Lean In. 

Soon I was purchasing her book right before I returned to school in the Fall. The statistics in the book shocked me. I suddenly became aware of the lack of equality women still have in society.

Do not get me wrong, women have made tremendous progress when it comes to rights and cracking down on sexism. Yet, we still have lengths to go when it comes to personal attitudes about woman in the career world and changing a woman's internal message she is sending herself.

I became empowered to join the conversation after finishing Sandberg's book and in the process of taking my Women and Gender's Studies class. Here I see first hand the facts and statistics that speak to the issue we still are facing in society when it comes to women's equality.

I may not be able to change the entire society's opinion, but I want to start a conversation. A conversation among my fellow college peers and young women in their 20s. As we enter the first years of college where we plan for our careers, or we are entering that profession in our early years, we need to do so boldly with a great inner confidence.

It seems that the biggest obstacle we face is our own inner voices telling us we "cannot do it" or are "not good enough". I decided  that I am going to use my love of writing and my resources of a blog to jump in the conversation. However, this perspective will be from a college woman who is looking to pursue a profession that is dominated by men and where women are judged by our looks.

I want to look to raise awareness of this disgrace and change the societal "norm". Even if I simply join in the conversation as I share my personal experiences I face on my journey towards the newsroom.

Please join me in the conversation.