Female leaders reflect, remember trailblazers during Women’s History Month

Photos courtesy of Carissa Padilla (left) and Erin Lynes (right)

By Danika Young | LTVN Reporter/Anchor

In honor of Women’s History Month, presidents from well-known, female-run organizations on campus spoke about the significance of the month of March. These women reflected on the tenacity and courage female leaders possessed before their time.

“Women’s History Month is a month to uplift women,” Garland junior and president of Women in Business Carissa Padilla said. “I believe that every day, we should be uplifting women, whether it’s Women’s History Month or not.”

Padilla said she believes women should consistently be honored for their accomplishments, no matter what month it is.

“When I think about the business school and how there are so few women in the business school — just a little over 30% — it’s really important, especially during this month, to elevate women’s voices that are sometimes difficult to be heard in the corporate world and hear stories of women who have persevered,” Padilla said.

As a woman in business, Padilla said she recognizes that women in her field are few but that her opportunity to be in corporate America is credited to those who came before her.

Padilla said she has followed the footsteps of her mother and aunt into the corporate world.

“It’s really just a month to remember the women who came before us and to honor them,” Padilla said. “And hopefully, one day I hope to be like the many trailblazers that have made a path for me.”

“Women’s month really is celebrating every woman’s achievements,” Lakeside, Calif., senior and president of GAIN at Baylor Erin Lynes said.

GAIN is an all-women fitness and wellness student organization on campus. Lynes said she feels GAIN represents everything a woman can be.

“GAIN plays a big role in representing women as strong and independent and also creating a community where you can be strong and have goals as a woman,” Lynes said.

Because of women’s courage in the past, Lynes said the idea of what it means to be a woman has shifted.

“Women’s History Month represents the growth and change that has come about over time for us as women,” Lynes said. “It represents how women have been able to break down the stigmas of what it means to be a woman in the places we belong.”

Danika Young is a senior from Orange County, California with a major in journalism and a minor in legal analysis. This is her third year at LTVN and she excited continue reporting on the stories that matter!