Yes, it's another Friday that I'm "working" again. But today was one of those days when I scrunch my eyes up and say to myself - is this really my JOB? I get paid to do things like this? Don't hate me when I say - I have the best job in the WORLD.
Today was the "Girls Leadership Network Summit," organized by a young lady who was part of the youth leadership program that I am so lucky to be the director. Hanna was in last year's class and was selected to participate in a national program in D.C. - put on by AnnPower, a philanthropic arm of the Ann Taylor company. Hanna was given the opportunity to give wings to her vision of leadership networking and mentoring connections for high school girls - and AnnPower provided a grant for an amazing event today.
Hanna pulled together a planning committee and asked me to be on board to help. Aside from borrowing tablecloths from friends, I really didn't do very much to put this event together - Hanna had the contacts to organize an amazing event. Did I mention that Hanna is a high school senior? There were 180 people registered for this event here in Tallahassee - around 120 of those are high school girls, the rest are college or professional women who are interested in mentoring high school girls.
Speakers included the Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Wansley Walters, and Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente. If you've got any doubts as to whether the next generation is ready to tackle the tough issues that we're struggling with - rest assured that there are young people who are thoughtful, smart, creative and ready to do good in the world.
Secretary Walters said that there's a quote that she loves from Madeleine Albright. I think Madeleine Albright is pretty cool - she was the first female Secretary of State - thank you President Clinton - and (get this) was UNANIMOUSLY confirmed by the Senate. Yes, the US Senate. How cool is that? Granted, it was before the heinous partisanship that has become the sticky booger that our current politicians cannot seem to shake, but that's pretty cool.
So the quote that totally blew me away was this:
“There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women."
And according to the amazing and all powerful Oz-like internet - it was, indeed, said at a Keynote speech that Albright gave at a Celebrating Inspiration luncheon with the WNBA's All-Decade Team in 2006.
I do like that quote. And if I believed in hell, I would tend to agree. So with that, I'll ask - if you're a woman, have you done what you can to empower another woman? If you haven't, and you don't know how - let me know. I can definitely help YOU make a connection so that you know how to make a positive difference in a woman's life. That "woman" might even be in 9th grade, but your influence could make a huge impact. I don't like to think of women, or anyone for that matter, in hell - especially a "special place" in hell.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Friday Thoughts on a Saturday
I'm very fortunate that I don't usually have to go to the office on Fridays, so I try very hard to start life each week on Thursday evenings. I do believe that most life begins on Fridays even though most calendars start on Monday. Yesterday, I had to work. All day. At the office. Even past 5pm. And yes, yesterday WAS a Friday. This will totally screw up my inner calendar.
Let me back up a bit. I have the most AMAZING job. It's part time, mostly. I do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and most of the time I'm able to schedule it so that I don't go to the office on Fridays. Sometimes it doesn't work out - especially when we have a big event coming up or if an activity actually runs from Friday morning through Saturday evening - but I will usually do whatever it takes to keep Fridays free. From work, at least.
On Fridays I usually clean house, or work in the yard, or do some kind of house project. So it's not like I'm sitting around eating bonbons watching Lifetime movies. First off, I'm not a bonbons and Lifetime kind of gal. I'm more of a popcorn with Tabasco and parmesan cheese and The Wire kind of gal. Second off, I love the results that housework and gardening achieve: making a home.
But yesterday was different. I had gone into the office on Thursday after NOT being at the office for 2 weeks. It was "the holidays" after all, plus it's a mostly dead time in the programs where I work. Today (Saturday) we have a reunion for the folks who have been through the 9 years that we have had the youth leadership program. We have almost 300 young people who have participated so far, and we usually get around 30 folks who are able to attend the reunion each year. It's a fun event to see these young leaders again and catch up with what they've been doing since they graduated from our program. I don't really do that much for the event except figure out the holes in the menu and help the hosts set up and clean up.
But we also have a program day on Tuesday, which combines the adult leadership class with the youth leadership class for a session on the human services agencies in our community. Part of the day involves sending out 72 people in small groups to 12 different agencies using the public transportation system.
Our community has a public bus system, but people love their cars around here so I really know very few people who use the system. I would TOTALLY use the system if I didn't have to drive around 6 miles to get to the closest bus stop. And most of the folks in our programs have never even thought of using the bus. So yesterday was spent using the "trip planner" function of the bus system's website to figure out how to get each group to their destination. Truly, the public transportation system is a HUGE part of the human services safety net equation.
On Tuesday, we will give 36 adults and 36 high school juniors a behind the scenes look at the human services agencies that serve our community. Which ones will take the knowledge gained during the day to correct some of the disparities that cause people to need those services? Which ones will attend a reunion in a few years and report that they are leading the charge to address an injustice or need? These thoughts are what make this job so rewarding. We are making a community.
Let me back up a bit. I have the most AMAZING job. It's part time, mostly. I do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and most of the time I'm able to schedule it so that I don't go to the office on Fridays. Sometimes it doesn't work out - especially when we have a big event coming up or if an activity actually runs from Friday morning through Saturday evening - but I will usually do whatever it takes to keep Fridays free. From work, at least.
On Fridays I usually clean house, or work in the yard, or do some kind of house project. So it's not like I'm sitting around eating bonbons watching Lifetime movies. First off, I'm not a bonbons and Lifetime kind of gal. I'm more of a popcorn with Tabasco and parmesan cheese and The Wire kind of gal. Second off, I love the results that housework and gardening achieve: making a home.
But yesterday was different. I had gone into the office on Thursday after NOT being at the office for 2 weeks. It was "the holidays" after all, plus it's a mostly dead time in the programs where I work. Today (Saturday) we have a reunion for the folks who have been through the 9 years that we have had the youth leadership program. We have almost 300 young people who have participated so far, and we usually get around 30 folks who are able to attend the reunion each year. It's a fun event to see these young leaders again and catch up with what they've been doing since they graduated from our program. I don't really do that much for the event except figure out the holes in the menu and help the hosts set up and clean up.
But we also have a program day on Tuesday, which combines the adult leadership class with the youth leadership class for a session on the human services agencies in our community. Part of the day involves sending out 72 people in small groups to 12 different agencies using the public transportation system.
Our community has a public bus system, but people love their cars around here so I really know very few people who use the system. I would TOTALLY use the system if I didn't have to drive around 6 miles to get to the closest bus stop. And most of the folks in our programs have never even thought of using the bus. So yesterday was spent using the "trip planner" function of the bus system's website to figure out how to get each group to their destination. Truly, the public transportation system is a HUGE part of the human services safety net equation.
On Tuesday, we will give 36 adults and 36 high school juniors a behind the scenes look at the human services agencies that serve our community. Which ones will take the knowledge gained during the day to correct some of the disparities that cause people to need those services? Which ones will attend a reunion in a few years and report that they are leading the charge to address an injustice or need? These thoughts are what make this job so rewarding. We are making a community.
Monday, December 26, 2011
What Was I Thinking?
Do I really have it in me to write a blog? Okay, I'm anal retentive when it comes to grammar and spelling so I will be MORTIFIED when I undoubtedly will have a huge gaffe that will make Mrs. Gaskins - the English teacher I had in 7th and 8th grades who beat this stuff in me - cringe. Sorry, Mrs. Gaskins, ahead of time. I will promise that I will not misspell dessert as desert. Really. I know the difference.
So we're headed to St. George Island in the morning. We have this "tradition" of getting together with 6 or 7 other families at the beach - either St George Island or Cape San Blas - during the week between Christmas and New Year's. It's our beach family - none of us are related except my husband and his ex-wife. They started going when they were married and have remained friends. This "beach family" has been doing this for more than 20 years. I've only been a part of it since 1998, when I started dating my now husband. His ex-wife and her husband will be sharing a house with us, as she has every year since 1998. Our relationship with her, as well as with my husband's first wife (I'm number 3 - third time's the charm) TOTALLY freaks my family out. But it's really a testament to how cool my husband is. He's the bomb diggity. Really. If we could clone him, there is a HUGE market among my single girl friends who would pay big bucks for that kind of action. He rocks. We'd be rich.
Anyhoo - it will be wonderful to be at the beach. I totally love the beach. Doesn't matter what the weather is. If there's salty water (or really, any kind of water) I'm in my element. Catch up on my New Yorkers. Walk the dawgs. Nap. Get my Rita fix.
No, it's not short for MargaRita. It's really Rita. She is the most cool friend that has come out of the beach family for me. She lives in Gainesville so I don't get to see her very often. She is so amazingly cool that if I weren't married, and if she weren't married, and if we were lesbians, I'd be totally into her. She's one of those people who you are breathless to hear the next words out of her mouth - everything she says is epic. Or hysterically funny. Or just what you were thinking EXACTLY.
It totally sucks that she will not be there the whole time this year. Her husband's high school reunion is scheduled for New Year's Eve (who does that????) so they'll only be at the beach for 2 nights. I'm up for the challenge to get my Rita fix scratched. Haven't seen her since she came to Tallahassee in the spring.
Anyway, my hope is that this blog will evolve into something. Probably something just for me, but it might make Mrs. Gaskins proud too. And I promise some recipes will come out of this too. Thanks for reading.
So we're headed to St. George Island in the morning. We have this "tradition" of getting together with 6 or 7 other families at the beach - either St George Island or Cape San Blas - during the week between Christmas and New Year's. It's our beach family - none of us are related except my husband and his ex-wife. They started going when they were married and have remained friends. This "beach family" has been doing this for more than 20 years. I've only been a part of it since 1998, when I started dating my now husband. His ex-wife and her husband will be sharing a house with us, as she has every year since 1998. Our relationship with her, as well as with my husband's first wife (I'm number 3 - third time's the charm) TOTALLY freaks my family out. But it's really a testament to how cool my husband is. He's the bomb diggity. Really. If we could clone him, there is a HUGE market among my single girl friends who would pay big bucks for that kind of action. He rocks. We'd be rich.
Anyhoo - it will be wonderful to be at the beach. I totally love the beach. Doesn't matter what the weather is. If there's salty water (or really, any kind of water) I'm in my element. Catch up on my New Yorkers. Walk the dawgs. Nap. Get my Rita fix.
No, it's not short for MargaRita. It's really Rita. She is the most cool friend that has come out of the beach family for me. She lives in Gainesville so I don't get to see her very often. She is so amazingly cool that if I weren't married, and if she weren't married, and if we were lesbians, I'd be totally into her. She's one of those people who you are breathless to hear the next words out of her mouth - everything she says is epic. Or hysterically funny. Or just what you were thinking EXACTLY.
It totally sucks that she will not be there the whole time this year. Her husband's high school reunion is scheduled for New Year's Eve (who does that????) so they'll only be at the beach for 2 nights. I'm up for the challenge to get my Rita fix scratched. Haven't seen her since she came to Tallahassee in the spring.
Anyway, my hope is that this blog will evolve into something. Probably something just for me, but it might make Mrs. Gaskins proud too. And I promise some recipes will come out of this too. Thanks for reading.
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