Meeting 1: Who we are and Who we want to be

After weeks of discussions and planning the first official LCC Lean In meeting took place. So many of us! The excitement was in the air.

Our beloved President Marlene Wall was generous enough to host out first meeting and created welcoming atmosphere at her home, where we got to know each other over tea and good conversations.

The Meeting

We started off by addressing the benefits that we gain as LCC students; our cultural, national, religious backgrounds truly offer a diverse foundation for conversations, and we must make the best out of this opportunity! Then the three organizers Yana, Vita and Yuliia shared their personal stories of events that motivated them to start the group and raise awareness of the issue. It opened up the floor for further discussion regarding insecurities, hopes, fears and joys related to womanhood that we experienced or might encounter in the future. Some quality insights were offered by our President Marlene Wall and a literature professor at LCC International University, Deborah McCollister, PhD. As young women we truly benefited from listening to what the life looked like for women back in the day and how more experienced and accomplished fellow women dealt with their issues.

We then engaged into self-development encouraging activities, where each of us was invited to take a close look at the ideal image of our 80 year-old self, what stops us from getting where we want to be and how we can fight those obstacles. We set goals and promised ourselves to stick to them; the importance of keeping yourself in check can get lost in the routine and responsibilities towards others rather easily. This time we took the time for ourselves only!

The Scholarship

As a part of our initiative we created a scholarship endowment that will be rewarded to a female student at LCC. It will serve as a way of encouraging more young women to develop and empower themselves through education. The beginning is humble, but the goal is set and we are determined and hopeful!

It was truly encouraging to see so many of us with so much potential in one room trying to figure out our strengths and weaknesses and help each other grow. We hope that the meetings will remain constant and abundant, and that we will help each other become better versions of ourselves.