By Bethany Reyna
Last year was my first year at the UMKC Women’s Center. I had never had a job like this where we worked for a cause through tabling and events. What I have learned from working at the Women’s Center has made a significant difference to me as a student and as a feminist.
When I first started attending UMKC I wasn’t involved and I had never lived in a city setting before. When I got on campus I was attending community events and seeing an environment that was outside of my campus and dorm life. I started to attend Women’s Center events and realized that the issues they represented not only affect students but also the surrounding community. It was slightly overwhelming to me; I had just graduated high school and then I found myself participating in events like Walk A Mile in Her Shoes and the Vagina Monologues. I had never got the opportunity to experience events like these before because those types of perspectives can be frowned upon where I’m from. During my first year at the Women’s Center I felt like I was impartial to everything that I was involved in because I couldn’t decide how to define my own feminism.
In my second year at the Women’s Center I feel like I have a bit more perspective and I am less overwhelmed than my first year.
- My 2nd year at the Women’s Center!
Now I know that I am a feminist and I can fully understand the importance of each event that we put on for the Women’s Center and the Violence Prevention and Response Project. I feel good knowing that these events might change a person’s perspective or save a person’s life. Having a job like this makes me want to continue to help people in need and I think that once I’m no longer with the Women’s Center, I will miss that aspect of the job the most. After I graduate, or when I no longer work here, I will continue to try to get involved with my community. Working for an organization like the Women’s Center has been a great experience so far and I hope that it continues to be for the rest of my college career!