“Who runs the world? WOMYN!” This is the phrase found on the t-shirts worn by the three men that went to the gathering. And no, “womyn” wasn’t misspelled by accident; it is simply taking the word man out of women as Tiara Fentress, organizer of this event, explained during the opening remarks. Having the word men in the word women almost makes it seem that women are dependent of men or even an extension of men. By using “womyn” instead, the female community can feel that their identity does not depend on men.

Fentress organized this event to be a monthly gathering where women from all over the community can come together to empower one another. Our community is not limited to EvCC students and embarks the Snohomish County and other cities nearby. This is a safe place where all women can express themselves freely and honestly without the fear of judgment, or fear that their vulnerabilities will be exposed. This gathering is for ladies to come together, be one, grow together, and rise together as said by Fentress.

As the morning went on, the guests were asked to speak up about some comments made by others about females that bothered them. Which served as segue into Krizia Cruz’s workshop about gender stereotypes and self-image. Krizia Cruz is an Access Coach for Americorps and works in the Diversity and Equity Center. Americorps is program that has been brought to EvCC during the summer of 2014. This is a program dedicated to connecting students to volunteer opportunities and that helps students prepare for jobs and transferring to a university.

Cruz’s workshop consisted of a few mirrors, paper, and pens. Attendees were divided into five groups of 5-6 people. Within each group, each member took a turn to sit in a chair in front of the mirror. As they sat in the chair staring into their own reflection they were to say what they saw; traits from both the interior and the exterior. While the group member did this, the rest of the group was to write what they saw about this person. After each person sat in front of the mirror the groups read or handed each other what they wrote for each person. This exercise was meant to allow women to stop “hiding behind or letting stereotypes sit up front,” Fentress says during the debriefing of the exercise.

In this exercise, like most exercises, one gets as much as they give. Edith Guzman, a student here on campus as well as a member of Programs Board said, “I decided to put myself in a vulnerable position” and by doing so she felt empowered by the energy and feedback throughout the room.

An alumni from EvCC that now studies at Western Washington University through EvCC’s University Center, Vanessa Guzman, confesses that “standing in front of the mirror and finding my inner self was very difficult… it was really hard to make eye contact with myself.” This exercise was effective in lifting each other up because of the combination of people, it seemed that almost everyone knew one person in their group from other social events which meant that they were getting feedback from people they already knew and people they had just met.