Dreaming big: Soroptimist conference encourages girls to pursue careers without fear

MOSES LAKE — Women can do any job they want to. 

That was the theme of Dream It Be It, the annual conference for high school girls put on by the Moses Lake chapter of Soroptimist International. About 60 girls gathered at Vanguard Academy on Saturday to hear about possible career paths from women who have already followed them. The point, said Elsa Meservy, one of the organizers, is to show girls they can have more options for their future than they might think. 

“We invite mentors that are in jobs that aren't usually women's jobs,” Meservy said. “We had law enforcement here, we had a mechanic, there's a woman that we invited that's a truck driver, things like that.” 

The mentors stationed themselves at tables around the Vanguard commons and girls would go from one table to another asking questions about careers and how to pursue them. In addition, there were booths representing Big Bend Community College, Trio, Outward Bound and Job Corps, among others, as well as some less serious activities like Zumba and a photo booth. 

Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, came over from Olympia to talk about her experiences as a woman in politics, and to tell the girls a little about legislation that could affect them in the future. 

“(Yesterday) we had a bill about ... child advocacy centers and victim centers,” Warnick said. “The day before we talked about tuition for college, how we’re going to help all of you who want to increase your education after high school. How are we going to help people get the opportunity to do that? And there are lots of opportunities.” 

Warnick urged the students to talk to their teachers and counselors and seek out scholarships. She also encouraged any who were interested in learning how government works to apply to be a legislative page in Olympia. 

Three of the mentors had participated in Dream It Be It themselves in high school and returned to inspire others. A fourth lives in New York and was unable to attend but sent a video. 

Citlalli Guzman graduated two years ago from the University of Washington and is now a legal assistant in the Washington State Attorney General’s office, she said. 

“I think it was my second time attending the Dream It Be It conference that I asked one of the Soroptimist members if I could intern at her law firm,” Guzman said. “That’s where I got my first internship in a legal field.” 

Guzman is studying for the LSAT with an eye toward continuing on to law school, she said. 

Ryan Hays took a different route. She’s a student at the University of Idaho studying athletic training, she said. 

“When I was here for the first time I had talked to a few basketball players,” Hays said. “At the time I wanted to be a veterinarian, so I had talked to a lot of people in the veterinary field. But I’ve always loved sports, and talking to the basketball players I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what I want to do the rest of my life is help out and be part of the sports world.'” 

In addition, the organizers held a drawing, and 10 students won laptops. Last year the drawing was only for seniors, but this year it was opened up to all attendees, Meservy said. 

Soroptimist International debuted Dream It Be It in 2015, according to the organization’s website, and last year, more than 23,000 girls in 15 countries and territories took part. A Soroptimist study showed that 90% of girls who attended a Dream It Be It conference came away more confident about their futures, and 91% created achievable goals for their future, according to the organization’s website. 

Meservy wasn’t positive, but she thought this was the eighth year the local Soroptimist chapter had hosted the conference. The district Moses Lake is part of has 13 local clubs, and Moses Lake, despite being one of the smaller clubs, consistently has the best turnout, she said. 

One of the fun activities the girls participated in was making friendship bracelets. Soroptimist member Anna Griffith explained that exchanging the bracelets represented making connections and inspiring one another. The first bracelet spelled out “DREAM,” and that one was for the girls to keep, she said. 

“We know that all careers started with a dream,” Griffith said. “Every panelist that's here talked about that. We want you, when you wear that, to think about something (which) that inspired you today to think about a career … and think about what next steps you would take to fulfill that dream.” 

    State Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, talks to girls at Dream It Be It on Saturday about the bolls working their way through the legislature and how those bills affect their future.
  

    Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Erica LaGrave and Moses Lake teacher Dawn Sandhop answer questions about their careers and how they achieved their goals at Soroptimist of Moses Lake’s Dream It Be It conference Saturday.
  

    Soroptimist of Moses Lake member Anna Griffith tells girls at Dream It Be It on Saturday about friendship bracelets and how girls can use them to network and inspire each other.
  

    About 60 high school-age girls attended the Dream It Be It conference at Vanguard Academy on Saturday. Ten of them won laptops from Soroptimist of Moses Lake in a drawing.