Throughout history, women have faced many obstacles in their quest to break boundaries in the workplace. A great way for them to break these boundaries is by coming together and uplift each other. To inspire and motivate by example, which was exactly the type of goal in mind for the Empowered Women Seminar hosted inside Del Mar College’s Harvin Center on March 28.
The Empowered Women seminar, directed by Jennifer Gonzales, was hosted in the Harvin Center’s Retama Room. It was an event that welcomed students and shot out an inspirational message to women of all backgrounds.
“The message at this seminar is to encourage our students, graduates, and potential students to finish their academic journey and gain insight from successful women in the industry on how to overcome barriers as women in college or the workforce,” Gonzalez said.
Most of the stories shared come from a place of wanting to help people and fellow women with their own careers and plans for the future according to the various speakers.
Tammy Romo-Alcala attended the panel and shared her journey as an up-and-coming student who went to college to pursue a greater opportunity for her life. As Romo-Alcala mentioned, having her daughter at 20-years-old caused her to put her education on hold. Her drive for an education was all but lost, and after working 10 years as a clerk for Koligik, she attended DMC and studied to become a class teacher.
She gives massive kudos to the Stone Writing Center for the resources and assistance that they provided to her. Even after all the time spent studying and encouragement from peers and family, she was not able to become a class teacher. She states that she felt devastated and that she failed the colleagues who tutored her and motivated her.
After outlasting the 2020 pandemic, Romo-Alcala started working at The Purple Door, an agency dedicated to helping victims of domestic abuse. She soon found that the pressure of working there wasn’t healthy for her, and her desire to be an educator was still strong.
Now, she is teaching at Texas A&M Kingsville and serves as the doctrine program for higher education. “Life is like a pivot; it can send you in a direction without you even realizing it,” Romo-Alcala said.
The guests attending the seminar were most prominently women pursuing an education to help further their career paths. According to many students, their reasoning for attending the seminar was to see other successful women and what achievements can be made in a career.
Destiny Wanzer, an American Sign Language major, says that she wants to get back into schooling and education by going to events and showing her support. An obstacle she finds in one’s career is getting certification and diplomacy for disabled students and plans to change this perspective by raising money for the deaf community, volunteering at charities, and lending a helping hand to those who need it.
Another student, a chemistry major named Gabby, got an email about the event and was very interested in finding inspiration in other women’s careers and successes. According to her, one obstacle most women face in their careers is the lack of belonging and feeling like a part of a team. The career plan she hopes to be part of is lab work in the petroleum science program here at Del Mar College.
