10/4/14 Reflection Domonique

Last week one of my mentee's who is a senior here at the University of Washington came into my office wanting to discuss a trend that she noticed when speaking to young Latina's on campus. As a young Latina herself she found too often that these young women lacked confidence and she wanted to make an impact. Her first thought was that she wanted to become a mentor, but she also wanted to promote mentorship. She felt that if she could reach out to young kids in middle school and really start to build that confidence in their formative years that this would have the greatest impact.  

My response to my mentee was first letting her know that her cause was nobel and that she should definitely find a way to become a mentor. During her story I could not help but think about what we are doing with our grant. She was very intrigued with our project and I encouraged her to stay in touch so that I could give her updates. I also encouraged her to find out how she could assist the communities that surrounded her as to not try and reinvent the wheel. There are many organizations dedicated to simular issues, that would give her opportunity to learn and fine tune her mission

10/3/14 Casa Latina Workshop Xochitl

Last Friday (10/3) I went to Casa Latina along with Ivette, Klarissa, and Sarah. We attended the Mujeres sin Fronteras workshop. This was my first time going to Casa Latina. We started off with introductions, then had several activities throughout the workshop. One activity that stood out to me is the exercise in escuchando con poder - listening with power. This involved getting into pairs and talking about yourself with no interruptions for three minutes and then listening to the other person do the same. I found this a little challenging because I found I ran out of things to say, maybe because I did not know the woman I was talking to. But this was a great exercise for how to be a good, active listener in conversation. Another activity that I enjoyed was when we were asked to draw or describe a goal for the immediate future or distant future that we have for ourselves. It was nice hearing everyone share what theirs was. Many women had the goal of finishing up school or getting their driver's license/permit.