
In high school I was never involved in anything because of the strict rules of my Macho step-father. I got into college and my mind sort of opened up. Things I wanted to do and were fun, were things I couldn’t do because of the rules. Where I come from, women stay at home with the children, while men go out and “work”. I realized that’s what my father wanted me to do. He never said it directly but when I put together all the verbal abuse I had over the past years of my life, it was all clear. I begged my mother for support of the things I wanted to do, but she said she couldn’t help me because of the “rules”. Surfing the web, I found something called “Girls For A Change” that would change my life entirely. Immediately I signed up and decided that I could do the commitment as long as I lied to my parents and said “It’s mandatory for school, sorry guys”. Things were hard when I would say, “ I have a meeting here and there” but I didn’t care. If I would have listened, I would have missed out on so many opportunities. With GFC my ideas were heard and were not only considered but were a reality. I have a voice on the board of GFC, I have a voice in event planning, and I was a representative of Girls For A Change at the PBWC (Professional Business Women of California Conference)! GFC offered me so much, that I can’t thank them enough.
I have to admit sometimes I do feel awkward when being surrounded by girls younger than me, because I’ll be turning 20 in a month, but I realized that many girls at my college level could use a dose of GFC for the professional business skill it offers. So I am quite fortunate to be a member of the Girl Steering Committee