On Location: Active Minds Conference

Ding-dong! We are now arriving at Union Station, Washington DC. That was my wake-up call en route to the psychology research conference I presented at last Friday. I jerked awake, covered by my giant teal coat, and started fumbling for my bags on the seat beside me, both excited and nervous to be embarking on a completely new experience.

Last Friday, I attended the Active Minds Emerging Scholars Conference to present my preliminary research for a project that I'll be doing until June about college-aged Asian American women and their attitudes towards mental health and counseling. I'm excited to note that there is a blogging component to my project, so all you readers out there will be the first to know as I go further into my work. But for now, I'd like to talk about the conference itself.

Inspiration from Womensphere

As I mentioned on the past two posts, I attended the Womensphere Emerging Leaders Summit this week, whose theme was Creating the Future. I left the conference feeling truly honored to have listened to these amazing women speakers who are all doing great work in their fields. Here are a few of the many inspiring quotes that I took down throughout the the first day of the conference (click on any of their names for more information about the women behind the words):

"One of your biggest weapons is the sound of your voice." - Toshi Reagon

"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste." - Michele Wucker

"There is no substitute for shared experiences." - Angela Leaney

"Leadership is not a part-time job." - Angela Leaney

"It's important to be comfortable with discomfort." - Lisa Shalett

"You have all this runway in front of you. What are you going to do with it?" - Susan Tardanico

"I got put on this earth as a woman. I don't want to be a man. I want to be what I was put on this earth to be." - Madeline Nelson

"The legacy you live is the legacy you leave." - Virginia Ruesterholz

"Sometimes when people say 'no' really loudly, it tells you that you that it's a really good idea." - Keren Bergman

"You only really need to be 85% right." - Keren Bergman

"If you're feeling helpless, help someone." - Morley

"Being fearless is not an absence of fear." - Jacqueline Wales