To round out Women’s History Month, SUNY Oswego Career Services hosted the third annual Women’s Empowerment Summit.

Accomplished women, including some alumni, spoke to attendees about work-life balance and having it all.

“ I’ve gone to this event ever since it started; this is my third year going,” Ashley Yackel, a senior psychology and sociology major, said.

Panelists included Mino Lora, co-founder and artistic director of The People’s Theatre, Melanie Littlejohn, president and CEO of Central New York Community Foundation and Marissa Mason, a special education teacher and graduate of the class of 2013.

“ I’m hoping that students…learn a set of skills that can help them in whatever field,” Mason said. “Of course, I was here to share my experience in education, but there were some great workshops, that sound transferable truly to any field.”

Many students were impressed with the lessons or advice that they received from the various panelists at the event.

“ [A] part that I liked about the event was this quote [a panelist] said, ‘don’t let people live in your head, rent free, evict them,’ and especially with college circumstances that people are really affected with what other people say. I think that was really inspiring and useful,” Valentina Di Marco, a sophomore psychology major, said.

The event started with a keynote panel with four accomplished women sharing stories and advice about their careers and how they got to where they are in the world. It was then followed by a series of breakout sessions. Attendees could pick two different rooms to go to and have a chance to meet with more women who were speaking. Each breakout session room had a different topic, like “Advising the Future” or “Community First.” Mason was a speaker in the “Advising the Future” breakout room.

“ We were sharing kind of like how our coursework in women’s and gender studies has helped our career path,” Mason said. “I’ve been out of school [for] close to over a decade now. When I started over 15 years ago, the Women’s Studies Department was just women’s studies. It wasn’t gender and women’s studies. So it’s absolutely grown.”

In these breakout sessions, students were able to get more one-on-one time with the speakers and ask questions to learn a more in-depth and personalized perspective.

“ I was kind of blown away by the women’s stories this time,” Yackel said. “Some of them said some really interesting stuff about overcoming adversity. One of the panelists said she danced with a congressman one night and then it led to a meeting a couple months later. I found that really interesting because just like some unique experience that can happen one night can lead to something profound.”

Yackel explained a story that Mason shared in her breakout room, where she tries to “take down masculine words.” Instead of saying “I need four strong boys to help me move this,” Mason says “I need four strong kids who think they can move this to help me,” according to Yackel.

To round off the event, members in attendance were able to go to the Compass for some refreshments and a swag bag. There they were given Girl Scout cookies, a notebook and a coupon to a local spa.

The Women’s Empowerment Summit is held every year during Women’s History Month to empower women and their peers. Career Services are looking to continue it next year and for many more after that.