SANDUSKY — Teaching “girl power” was the lesson for hundreds of freshman girls at the Young Woman Lead conference in Sandusky on Thursday.
“We learned about finding your true self, and being able to express yourself freely and not being afraid of what others think,” said high school freshman Sarah Reardon.
Reardon said she was excited for today because she wanted to use the tools she learned to help boost her own self-esteem.
“Confidence has been a struggle for me for majority of my life and I was excited to find my true self,” said Reardon.
This was the second year the conference was held in Ohio, but its first year in Sandusky. It gave more than 700 freshman girls from Erie, Huron and Ottawa county schools the chance to see what they could become if they boosted their self-confidence.
“There was programming already in place for sophomores, juniors, seniors, but not much when it came to freshmen. That really is an age where they're so ready to learn new information and to really start in their high school careers,” said volunteer Emily Rockwell.
The event focused on providing the young girls with life skills and motivation they may not be getting elsewhere.
“We're very hospitality and tourism related, but there's also pockets of poverty and there's pockets of places where we need to re-frame the narrative. And we want these girls to know the American dream is still alive and well, and you can capture it. As well as show here's how we're going to help you do that,” said volunteer Katherine Adams.
The attendees are already looking forward to using what they learned from Julie Carrier, one of the nation's top life coaches and a Columbus native. Carrier spoke about how to be successful in the workforce and ways to develop confidence and leadership potential.
The organizers hoped the girls left knowing they had a support system that wanted to see them succeed.
“It feels good, and it feels like you realize you have more value than you really know you do,” said freshman Alyssa Hall.
Organizers said the event saw a 400% attendance increase from last year's conference, which was held in Ottawa County. Their goal is to add more school districts for next year to inspire the next generation one lesson at a time.
“We hope that by bringing everybody together and being able to see each other in the same room and being able to experience this event together is empowering, creates a bond and show them we are all the same. Because we don't look at county lines when we drive to work every day, and our students don't,” said Adams.
