By Samantha McCoy Contributing writer
The Susquehanna Career Development Center is taking applications to attend this year’s National Conference for College Women Student Leaders until Feb. 10.
This conference is for female students who are leaders on campuses and in their communities.
According to the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders website, the conference will provide students who attend with workshops that will help them strengthen their leadership skills, build a professional tool kit, gain a better understanding of issues and policies that affect women and much more.
“It’s like a bigger version of Susquehanna’s Breakthrough,” sophomore Brooke Adams-Porter said.
She also added, “There will be about 50 speakers, there will be workshops, networking sessions and fairs for grad schools and jobs. There will be a lot of successful women there, so be prepared for a very supportive atmosphere.”
In previous years, the conference has featured many notable keynote speakers. Franchesca Ramsey, vlogger and comedian, and Hilary Corna, entrepreneur and author, spoke at the conference in 2016, according to the conference website.
Maysoon Zayid, actress and co-founder of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival, Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Olympic gold medalist and CEO of Champion Women, and Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation and daughter of Hillary Clinton, were also keynote speakers at the conference.
The conference will be four days long, running from May 31 to June 3, and will take place at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Fees for the conference and transportation are covered, according to Adams-Porter.
There are “Add-On Activities” at the conference that attendees can participate in for an extra fee. A list of these activities can be found on the conference website.
“We’re looking for someone who is involved on campus, especially in women’s leadership activities and organizations,” Adams-Porter said.
She added, “We would prefer someone who is coming back to campus to bring back what they learned, so we aren’t accepting senior applicants.
“We are also looking for more local applicants, so that no one has to fly out from Florida or anything to get to the conference.”
Adams-Porter is the women’s leadership intern at the Career Development Center, and this is her first time attending the conference.
The internship includes doing a lot of research involving other schools that are commonly compared to Susquehanna, according to Adams-Porter.
“We can then see if Susquehanna already offers or can offer similar resources for female students on campus. The reason I am going is to experience it first-hand and bring back the knowledge,” she said.
The application can be found under the “Campus Activities” heading on mySU. It is a short questionnaire that can be emailed to Adams-Porter after completion.
On the week of Feb., 13 there will be a short interview process for those students who have applied.
“It’s just a general interview. We’ll ask why you’re interested and your true intent on going. It’s mostly just reinforcing the questionnaire,” Adams-Porter said.
The interviews will be held by Adams-Porter and Michaeline Shuman, the assistant provost of post-grad outcomes as well as director of the Career Development Center.
Final decisions will be made and accepted applicants should be notified by Feb. 20.
Adams-Porter is hoping that attending the conference will help women take their futures into their own hands.
Regarding that, she said, “We had a guest rapper recently who said that we live in a society where women tend to take a less-than approach.”
She continued, “We need to take advantage, especially since Susquehanna has tons of opportunities that female students aren’t aware of.”
For more information about this conference, students can visit the Career Development Center or visit the conference website at nccwsl.org.
