Week four of training for my half marathon has begun. I have finally reached the six mile mark and it only goes up from here. This Saturday was a beyond beautiful day and happened to be the day I go on my long run, allowing the anticipation of running for an hour to not be as treacherous as it initially sounded. I put on some running shorts and a tank, got my country music playing and set off. Uncertainty of where to run in order to reach my goal distance resulted in me running without a plan. I explored Auburn, passing by farms, going through woods, and ended with running through campus.
Fortunately for me, these runs fall on a Saturday where I essentially have all the time in the world, to go and explore wherever I want. During the week that is not the case. The biggest struggle I have come across is finding the time during the week days. Monday through Thursday I have one thing after another, and if I do have some down time it is used studying or if I am lucky, eating lunch. Most days the only chunk of time I have to exercise is late at night. Thankfully for me the gym is open until midnight. My friends think I am crazy when they see me heading to the gym at ten o’clock at night, but I made the commitment to do this and I’m not going to back off just because of time constraints. I actually find it relaxing to have my runs at night. It gives me an opportunity to release all the stress of the day and to just think. Not thinking about tests or people I am frustrated with, but think about the things that I have to look forward to and to realize how incredibly lucky I am to be where I am and doing the things I am able to do.
Every day I have a scheduled goal of how many miles I need to complete, at times it seems impossible because let’s be honest life gets in the way, but it’s the big goal I need to remind myself to look at. Reaching miles is just a smidgen of it, it is the big goal of accomplishing something I told myself “you can’t do” that will make all this effort worth it.
Hanna Bjork
Sophomore
Auburn University
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Good Reads
If you’re looking for a good read or a new book, here are some top rated inspiring and empowering books for women. Hope you enjoy!
The Vagina Monologues
By Eve Ensler
The Vagina Monologues is made up of a varying number of monologues read by a varying number of women and each of the monologues deals with an aspect of the feminine experience. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. Every year a new monologue is added to highlight a current issue affecting women around the world. Every Valentine’s day thousands of local benefit productions are staged to raise funds for local groups, shelters, crisis centers working to end violence against women.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
By Sheryl Sandberg
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of “having it all.” She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home.
Written with both humor and wisdom, Sandberg’s book is an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth. Lean In is destined to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can.
The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Trying to pursue her writing career, Skeeter has the idea of writing about the relationships between whites and their black help, especially as the black-maid raised children eventually take on the attitudes of their parents when they become adults. The maids are very reluctant to cooperate, afraid of retribution from their employers, but eventually she convinces two maids, Aibileen and Minny, to coporate
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
By Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
Written by two fiercely moral voices, this book is a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.
With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.
If you’re looking for a good read or a new book, here are some top rated inspiring and empowering books for women. Hope you enjoy!
The Vagina Monologues
By Eve Ensler
The Vagina Monologues is made up of a varying number of monologues read by a varying number of women and each of the monologues deals with an aspect of the feminine experience. A recurring theme throughout the piece is the vagina as a tool of female empowerment, and the ultimate embodiment of individuality. Every year a new monologue is added to highlight a current issue affecting women around the world. Every Valentine’s day thousands of local benefit productions are staged to raise funds for local groups, shelters, crisis centers working to end violence against women.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
By Sheryl Sandberg
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of “having it all.” She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home.
Written with both humor and wisdom, Sandberg’s book is an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth. Lean In is destined to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can.
The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Trying to pursue her writing career, Skeeter has the idea of writing about the relationships between whites and their black help, especially as the black-maid raised children eventually take on the attitudes of their parents when they become adults. The maids are very reluctant to cooperate, afraid of retribution from their employers, but eventually she convinces two maids, Aibileen and Minny, to coporate
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
By Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
Written by two fiercely moral voices, this book is a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.
With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Auburn's WRC Woman of the Month
What brought you to Auburn?
“Both of my parents are Auburn graduates so I was raised to be an Auburn Tiger! Actually, Auburn was the only place I applied.”
What is the biggest piece of advice you’d give other Auburn students?
“Find what interests you and pursue it wholeheartedly. It's easy to get caught up in the organizations you think you're "supposed" to join, but it's most important to find what excites you and explore that because you never know what opportunities will come your way! Also, it makes for a much more enjoyable undergraduate experience when you are passionate about your activities.”
What inspires/motivates you?
“Bettering the world. I know that sounds incredibly cliche, but I think that as human beings, it's our duty to utilize our gifts to improve the lives of those around us.”
What is something people don’t know about you?
“I think my teachers and classmates would be surprised to find out that I'm a bluegrass musician. I grew up occasionally playing fiddle in my dad's bluegrass band but now I mostly focus on songwriting. I co-produced an extended play album of my original songs in 2012.”
Who do you look up to, and why?
“I look up to my dad. He is the smartest man I know and he knows how to laugh at himself and never take himself too seriously. He handles difficult situations with grace and composure and never lets stress get the better of him. Most importantly, he puts the needs of others ahead of himself. He is the most graceful person I know, and I hope I can be half the parent he has been to me one day.”
What is your favorite Auburn moment?
“Hands down, my favorite Auburn moment was our unbelievable Iron Bowl victory this year!”
What is something you’d like to see change on Auburn’s campus?
“PARKING! We need more of it. Also, less ticketing and more love from Parking Services. Seriously, though. Especially during finals week.”
We chose Mary-Catherine as our first Auburn Woman of the Month because her hard work and dedication is inspiring and she embodies everything an Auburn Women should be. We wish Mary-Catherine the best of luck in her pursuit of her dreams. We will be rooting for you Mary-Catherine! War Eagle.
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