On Nov. 15 members of Sage leadership groups Student Council, SAME, Honor Committee and Peer Counselors–including seniors Eric Zhang, Sydney Endicott, Claudia Noto, Dakshin Jandhyala and Lauren Anderson– attended the 25th Annual Walk in My Shoes Conference at California State University Fullerton.  More than 15 high schools in Orange County gathered to learn about identity and culture issues, leadership skills and how to be active, young members of society.

The day started with an arguably hackneyed mingling activity in which students walked around and found people to complete cliché tasks together (“find 5 people to shout ‘YOUTH POWER’!”) or to superficially introduce themselves, only to sign off each other’s papers.

After the opening remarks from two council members and Jonah Mowry, a boy who posted a viral YouTube video using note cards to describe his struggle with bullying, all participants chose one of 10 workshop sessions to attend.  A list of the available workshops can be found below.

The Lipstick, Dolls & Feminism workshop consisted of two young women trying to engage the primarily female audience of about 50 high school students. The speakers touched on stereotypes of feminism and women today and how to fight them.  They showed a YouTube video discussing commercial advertising and the established gender roles of powerful men and passive women that it perpetuates.

Three members of Girls, Inc. led the Mirror, Mirror on the Wall workshop for girls only. They delivered a PowerPoint presentation detailing the negative effects of the media and celebrity culture on today’s young girls, and offered inspirational, self-esteem boosting words of love to all in attendance.

This workshop seemed to be geared toward a younger audience; 12- to 14-year-old girls would have benefited more from it than some of the seniors from Sage, who found it a little condescending at times.  Most of the Sage students who attended this workshop already knew a lot of the things being discussed; the Girls, Inc. women asked simple questions and seemed surprised when girls in the audience made connections that a Sage student would find obvious.

Other workshops focused on issues like deportation and immigration laws, the LGBTQ community, gun violence and healthy relationships. Although the workshops I attended did not provide me with much new insight into these issues, at the end of the day, it was a good opportunity to be reminded of current debates that deserve our attention, but are sometimes pushed aside as we go about our daily lives.

Workshop Sessions

Bang, Bang! You’re Dead

What is Modern Slavery?

Perspectives on Agency and Education

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (Females only)

In Your Faith

Drug Abuse Prevention

Love is Not Supposed to Hurt

Student’s Rights

Lipstick, Dolls & Feminism

The Center of the Universe

What Do You See?

Identity Corners

Theatre of Empowerment

Putting the Move in Movement