Girl Scouts interact with medical equipment showcased at the event, encouraging young women to explore a variety of career possibilities.
The Lion’s Roar /Alex Brainard
Girl scouts from all around the state had a chance to meet with other groups and organizations to learn about future careers at the university’s first Believe in Girls event.
This first time event took place on September 12, 2015 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Vice President of communications and marketing Marianne Addy stepped in to give out some information on what the B.I.G. event is and the reasoning behind its startup. Also, participants were able to learn future possibilities at the university.
“What we wanted to do today was let girls know they can believe in themselves [and] that they can be anything they want to be,” said Addy. “We invited over 50 organizations across southeast Louisiana to introduce girls to the fields of science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), the arts, the outdoors, healthy living, just a variety of opportunities for girls so they can see what it might be like to be an engineer or a scientist. Hopefully they will get an opportunity to participate in hands on activities. It’s an opportunity to really see a wide variety of career options and professions and hopefully here at Southeastern Louisiana University, they can see what the world could represent for them.”
While the day is informational and fun, one of the main things that mattered was the new knowledge the Girl Scouts and leaders left with.
“Hopefully they’ll go away with being excited about girl scouting,” said Addy. “This is a wonderful way to kick off the year and get involved with various things. A bunch of these organizations offer Girl Scout programs. We have the Audubon Nature Institute that has an outdoor program where they learn about nature and education. We have girls from the American Association University of Women who might be doing a financial literacy program. We have North Oaks Institute who are talking to the girls about healthy living practices.”
The Girl Scouts and their leaders had opportunities to go to presentations and listen to speakers such as 2014 Miss Southeastern Emily Randon. Randon was able to express the importance of a healthy lifestyle for the future.
“I wanted to come speak to the girl scouts because I really love what they’re doing by being involved with this organization,” said Randon. “By being able to talk to them about healthy choices, I knew I was able to impact our future generation.”
2015 World’s Glamorous Miss Louisiana Tyron’E Hankins also spoke at the B.I.G. event on being healthy.
“I definitely wanted to reach out to the girls and let them know that a healthy lifestyle is the best way to live,” said Hawkins. “Not only eating right, being active, getting up and moving but also how they feel on the inside. Being truly beautiful and confident in themselves, having self-confidence.”
The Kappa Nu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Miss Black & Gold Si-Arah McCray also wished to express the importance of self-confidence.
“My hope was to get the girls involved and let them know there is a worth in being self-confident,” said McCray. “I wanted to let them know being self-confident isn’t just what people see, it’s about how you feel about yourself as well. Self-confidence is not loud; it’s silent. It’s supposed to be seen, not heard.”
With over 1,100 Girl Scouts attending the event, Addy hopes the B.I.G. event will continue in the upcoming year.