In celebration of Women’s History Month, inspiring women of Moore are sharing how they overcame obstacles in their lives in a series of lunchtime lectures.
“Telling Her Story” is sponsored by Student Services. Speakers include Lynn Palewicz, Foundation chair; Carlee Myers, donor engagement coordinator; Nasheli Ortiz, Fashion Design chair; admissions counselor Wydelah Campbell; and Interdisciplinary Assistant Professor of Fashion, Fine Arts (Textiles) & Foundation Heather Ujiie. Dean of Students Joshua Wilkin said it’s aimed at uplifting and encouraging the Moore community.
“I thought it would be really important for students, faculty and staff to hear from these leaders that, while our pasts can be very different, we all share times that are difficult where we have to persevere,” he said. “It provides inspiration for others to see that on your path, you’re going to have all sorts of bumps and curves to it, but you can finally get to that destination.”
MAKING CHOICES
The first lecture was by Palewicz, who talked of choosing a creative professional life and how she got there through her top nine most important choices and decisions she had to consider, starting at age 17 when she decided to go to a college of art and design.
“My next question was, ‘How am I going to make money?’” she told a group of students, faculty and staff. “I thought I could figure that out later. It was messy. I changed my major three times.”
Other choices led her to teaching jobs in Maryland, to Yale's MFA program, to a job with an architecture firm in New York, moving in with her husband-to-be, and figuring out how to deal with a serious illness with no health insurance.
“Life makes you choose again and again and again and again,” she said, “and that’s a really good thing. It gave me the opportunity for change and a chance to look at my priorities and what was the best one for me.”
NEXT LECTURES SET
Three more lectures are scheduled:
- Nasheli Ortiz will speak at 11:30 a.m. March 27 in Sarah Peter 206.
- Wydelah Campbell’s talk will be at 12:30 p.m. March 27 in Sarah Peter 206.
- Heather Ujiie's talk will be at 11:30 a.m. March 29 in the 4th floor Media Room.
“The whole idea of mentoring is very important here at Moore,” Wilkin said. “Grit and resiliency are also very important traits that people need to be successful to be a leader, to develop within the art world.”
