By Margaret Wight
Well, hey there.
My name is Margaret Wight, but friends call me Marge so feel free to do the same. I am the new graduate assistant at the UMKC Women’s Center. I am originally from the small town of New Market, Virginia. I received my Bachelor of Science from James Madison University (go Dukes!) in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Geriatric Study. I realized that this was not the career I wanted to advance in around my senior year of college. I just spent the last four years getting a degree in a field I no longer wanted to work in – so, now what?
I decided I wanted to continue my education, but this time I wanted to be sure about what career field I wanted to end up in. Since I was still uncertain about what I wanted to do, I could not enroll in grad school just yet, but I could not remain idle either – this lead me to apply to AmeriCorps. I ended up applying, interviewing, and landing a position as a Corps Member in a program called City Year-Kansas City: an education non-profit that focuses on closing the graduation gap created by the economic, academic, and supportive disparities low-income students face every day.
Through working with City Year and reflecting on my time at JMU, I realized I wanted to work on college campuses and focus on creating new programs and practices to increase the number of underrepresented students in postsecondary education. Now here we are, I am currently studying Higher Education Administration with a focus in Student Affairs at UMKC. When I saw the GA position at the Women’s Center become available, I knew that was the perfect next step for me.
The reason I was automatically attracted to the Women’s Center is because all kinds of #equity is a passion of mine. The Women’s Center’s mission is “to advocate, educate, and provide support services for the advancement of women’s equity on campus and within the community at large,” and girl, I can get down with that! Let’s talk wage gap, feminism, body positivity, and human rights. I am so excited to be a part of this amazing team and work toward a common goal. Everybody, get hype for the awesome programs we have planned for you this upcoming semester and most importantly – come visit us in the Women’s Center!