An Incredible Presentation

I just witnessed what in my mind was one of the most powerful presentations I’ve ever heard.  The occasion was the wrap-up of a week-long crafts fair for girl scouts held at our church building.  The girls made their own crafts, many of them clothing or articles of bling of some kind.  Several older women mentored them during the week.  At the craft show today where the girls showed off the fruit of their labor, the mentors held a panel forum that consisted in part of the girls being able to ask questions of the panelists.

The questions from these 4^th to 6^th grade girls were pertinent and on point.  The panelists gave what I considered an incredible presentation and answering of questions.  The women on the panel were all academically gifted and had vocations to match.  Engineering, graphic design, microbiology, aerospace engineering and more were represented on the panel.  The women talked at length in answering questions, and gave a lot of advice as well.

“Learn to code,” one woman said.  Coding is the language of today.  If you don’t think you’ll ever use it, learn it anyway.

“What role does dance play in your vocation,” one girl asked.  I thought there would be no answer for that from these women, but two of them talked at some length about how dance played a part in what they did or a project they had worked on.

One woman talked about the challenge of moving from a literal wind tunnel for the testing of aircraft to a virtual wind tunnel, how that transition took place and what was required to do so.  One talked about what happens when, due to no one’s fault, there is a layoff and you’re suddenly out of work.  One spoke of how much she loves getting out and meeting new people in her line of work (she’s now an outreach coordinator for a university).

The women talked about education, goals, challenges, the good and the not so good.  But more than anything, these women demonstrated to the girls (and to the greater audience) that a woman doesn’t need to be a dependent doormat or continually barefoot and pregnant.  A woman can indeed achieve, and do so with dignity and with class.  These women were great mentors, not only in the crafts portion of the week, but especially during the panel presentation.

It is refreshing and energizing to hear such testimony, to know that there are many successful people in the world.  Whether a person (man or woman) has chosen to make a home for children or create the latest wing design for a new fighter jet, there are opportunities.  There are challenges.  There are obstacles.  But there are also the mountain tops and there are the times of great satisfaction at having done a job well.