Women's Futures Symposium: 'Set your goals high"

By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

March 11, 2009 06:39 am

— LEWISBURG -- The fear of the unknown. The dangers of not making the right choice. The pressure of pleasing others.
"There's a lot of stuff going on with what I want to do," said Warrior Run High School student Ashley Keiser.
But one lesson she learned during the seventh annual area Young Women's Futures Symposium at Bucknell University on Tuesday helped to give her a little focus.
"Do what you want to do," she said is one thing she learned by mid-day of the event, "not thinking about what other people want you to do."
Hannah Jones, a junior at Lewisburg Area High school, said she learned the importance of being herself and of "having a positive influence on other people."
"Being positive about everything," said Sara Byers, a student at Warrior Run, is a lesson she learned about a specific decision she is facing in her own life.
"Having a positive self-esteem," echoed Samantha Hunsinger, a student at Danville High School. "Basically being yourself."
Symposium leaders and speakers conveyed these messages and more to the 120 students attending the event.
Students are taught not to place limits on themselves, said Joyce Hendricks, chairwoman of the 2009 steering committee. The local women attending the symposium, she said, are all different, and they have each done so many things in the community. The messages they shared with the sophomores and juniors at the symposium were timely and valuable.
"Sometimes they (the young women) think they can't do much ... and that's just not true," Hendricks said. "Set your goals high."
The steering committee for the event was composed of 15 local business women, who spent about six months planning the event, said Cindie Lytle, vice chairwoman.
The event was held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. More than 15 area school districts were represented. In addition to 120 students, the event brought out 25 guidance counselors, 45 facilitators and 20 panelists.
Bucknell has been hosting the event for about five years.
Before the symposium, students were asked to fill out questionnaires, which included what careers they were interested in. Each student then was placed in the appropriate panel discussion.
"We always have evaluations from the students," said Elizabeth Ackerman, symposium coordinator. Over her nine years with Junior Achievement of Central Pennsylvania Inc., she has read numerous comments from students who were thankful to attend the event and through it learned what they could do, or even may not want to do, with their lives.
"It's a huge, eye-opening day," Ackerman said. "It helps these students be successful. There is nowhere else they can get this."
"We focus on giving tools for them to be successful," she said. "They can be successful if they take an active part in planning their future."
The women invited to attend the event each year vary in career representations, Ackerman said. "It runs the gamut," she said, from business owners to artists. "The event is a lifeline for women who want to mentor students."
Anything can look great on paper, she said. "This takes it to the next level with a broad range of volunteers."
The symposium concept was created by the Junior Achievement office about 13 years ago. The office now conducts three young women's symposiums and one men's symposium in its nine-county coverage area of Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Juniata, Montour, Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin and Schuylkill.
Sponsors of the event included Evangelical Community Hospital, First National Bank, Wal-Mart, Mifflinburg Bank & Trust, Farm & Home Oil Co., D&E Communications, Kreamer Feed, National Beef, Mojo Active Inc., SUN Orthopaedic Group Inc., Central Pennsylvania Women's Journal, Kramm, McCann School of Business & Technology, Albright Care Services and RiverWoods Senior Living Community.

Copyright © 1999-2010 cnhi, inc.