It is no secret that women are under a tremendous amount of pressure in today’s society. It is essentially impossible for women to balance everything society expects them to do including working, taking care of a family, keeping up with the latest trends, exercising, being involved in the community, and much more. Research shows that […]
Dare to Lead
Over the past year of my life, I have seen a recent theme emerge. As I approach what feel like “big moments” such as graduation, moving, and surviving graduate school, I have begun to reflect and break down the basic truths that I have been fed my entire life. As I reflect on so many […]
Women Empowerment Series Conference
Registration Here You’re Invited to our first SERVE Conference! Description: The overall goal of this conference is to equip practitioners and professionals across various disciplines how to best empower women and girls in areas of leadership, congregations and mental health. All six research assistants will share their personal research. Breakout sessions in which faculty from […]
The Importance of Building Up Self Esteem and Community
The past few summers I interned with high school girls at my church. During my senior year of college, I worked at an anti-human trafficking agency. This year, I am working at a counseling agency for families and children. While all of the organizations and agencies were widely different, I found that the youth who […]
Telling the Story of You
Stories are central to our days. I have memories of being curled up in my mom’s lap while she read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch when I was only a toddler. I remember riding down the road in my grandparent’s old Cadillac while my grandfather told me stories of his time as a […]
Why She Didn’t Report
Please note, I refer to individuals who have been sexually assaulted as survivors rather than victims, as research shows the language used to describe this population has an impact on their well-being/how they view themselves. I am writing from a cis-gendered white woman’s perspective and I acknowledge that I cannot fully understand, nor speak to […]
Holiday Season Self-Care
For many people, the holiday season is their favorite time of year, but for others, it brings unwelcome guests – stress and depression. Women are often expected to ensure holiday plans, gifts, meals, and other aspects are taken care of, but this added stress opens the door for mental health concerns to surface. Research […]
The Power of Self-Esteem
Self-esteem: Building confidence, being true to yourself, and cheesy Pinterest quotes. Self-esteem is a term that is often overused during adolescence, but just as frequently misunderstood. Before researching self-esteem, I had a bias of the term “self-esteem” and its meaning. Self-esteem had been drilled into me as a teen and I remember being tired […]
Make It Your Fight
Make it your Fight Anna Mills Though it often goes unrecognized, modern day slavery through the form of human trafficking, is a widespread issue in today’s society. Most of us prefer to think that this is not a problem that could impact our lives, or the lives of those close to us. However difficult to […]
The Beauty of Intersectionality
I want to preface this collection of thoughts with two important pieces of information: The intersectionality of humans encompasses all levels of identity: gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ability, race, ethnicity, nationality, etc. I will be focusing on the experiences of women and girls of color, particularly African American women and girls, in the ensuing […]