The Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) hosted an empowerment board activity on Wednesday evening to help students focus on setting and achieving personal goals.
The organizers hoped this activity would help students recognize their potential and worth, a message that is part of BAVO’s core mission.
“I think this activity really aligns with BAVO’s mission for women’s empowerment,” junior Elizabeth Day, who helped organize the event, said. ”It is a visual way to represent your goals and recognize the things that you aspire to be and the things that inspire you.”
This year BAVO has tried to find new ways to connect with students and share their mission.
“This year we’re really trying to get creative with our events and find new ways to empower women,” Day said. “We want to host events that people will be excited about and start conversations about important topics.”
The concept of an empowerment board plays off the idea of a vision board, but students thought a vision board could have a negative effect on participants. Instead, BAVO opted for a more positive message for this event.
“We thought a vision board would be cool, but once we started looking into it, we noticed that a lot of people online were saying how stressful it was when they looked at their vision boards and felt like they hadn’t accomplished any of their goals,” senior and BAVO member Lauren Zinanni said. “We thought about empowerment boards instead because BAVO strives to empower women, especially on this campus.”
Students in attendance found designing empowerment boards to be a good way to get involved and apply this activity to their own lives.
“I have a lot of projects coming up, so I think this is a nice way to take a break and still be creative,” junior Corey Shaw said. ”I think that having one is a nice reminder to never give up.”
For Shaw, having boards like these serve as a daily reminder to remain positive and to stay focused on her goals.
“All of this work is going towards a goal,” she said. “I have a lot of these types of things in my room already, so this is just another reminder that I’m here for a reason and I need to keep going to make the goal that I’m trying to get to.”
Members of BAVO hope events like this will help spread the organization's mission to students and encourage everyone to get involved.
“I think its important that BAVO does these events not only so students on campus can become more aware of BAVO’s presence, but also so students can be creative and work on a project to take something home,” Zinanni said. “It’s important to show that BAVO is a resource for students and we’re glad that we’ve been such a big presence on campus this year.”
The concept of empowerment is significant for many students and the ability to design a board had a positive effect on students.
“A lot of people told me I wouldn’t make it this far,” Shaw said. “So, the fact that I did and that I have boards like this reminds me of this and why I’m here. It helps me remember that I proved them wrong.”
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