Columbia State Community College hosts "Girls Can Do It" Junior Women's Conference

Right: Julianne Dressler and JTG (Jobs for TN Graduates) Instructor Chana Lymon

On Friday, October 23rd, Columbia State Community College hosted the "Girls Can Do It" Junior Women's Conference at Pleasant Heights Baptist Church in Columbia. 200 young women from Giles, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Marshall, Maury, Perry and Wayne counties were in attendance. The goal of the conference was to make young women aware of career areas they may not have considered previously especially in the areas of science, medicine and technology. Then once aware of the career opportunities, they were given information on the training needed for those particular fields of study. Ms. Angenia Clark, President and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Middle TN was the keynote speaker and an impressive number of around 50 women professionals were on hand to speak to the youth.

Julianne Dressler, a senior at Columbia Central High School, was initially thinking of becoming an elementary school teacher, but has now come to realize that she may have decided too soon. "Ms. Clark really brought to my attention all of the things I could do…like Communications. I had never even thought of that before and now I'm kinda rethinking my career options" says Dressler. She went on to say that "I really liked how the speakers connected with us and got us pumped up about our futures."

The conference was a partnership between Columbia State Community College and the South Central TN Workforce Alliance and was paid for with grant funding from W.I.R.E.D. through the Valley Innovation Alliance to Columbia State Community College.