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FEATURES ECHO Monday, March 22, 2021
and help them see their options.
Eva Bentley, freshman
WHAT’S THE POINT
Girls United hosts panel of SUCCESSFUL W MEN Event integrates all Girls United chapters Maria Perez-Barriga mariaperezbarriga@ slpecho.com
A
long with Girls United chapters from Hopkins, Wayzata, Minnetonka and Armstrong, Park Girls United co-president Ella Roether organized a panelist event with six diverse groups of women. “I think it was really awesome to have her there along with all the other panelists because I think a lot of times we shy away from people who have different views then us,” Roether said. “It feels really impactful and special to me that we were able to bring such a diverse group of people together.” Senior Ruth Erist said that the meeting held March 7 felt more lively than previous meetings with only Park students. “Compared to the last Girls United meeting in February with other panelists, it was just our school so it’s a smaller community
and less people were comfortable with their cameras on and didn’t engage as much with the speakers,” Erist said. “But there was a lot of engagement (this meeting) and a lot cameras were on, which was also pretty cool. It was a very cool environment.” Senior Bella Steward said she enjoyed getting to know new people and listening to different views participants had for discussions. “I liked having people that I haven’t met yet because they have a lot of different perspectives and different questions. (Hopkins) started Girls United before us, so I liked hearing their perspectives and their questions since they have been doing this for longer,” Steward said. Erist said a memorable moment she had during the event was meeting Rao and other panelists talking about their jobs and giving out meaningful advice to students. “I really liked talking to the circuit judge (Rao). She was talking a lot about how demanding the job was and how she has kids and that is something I have always thought
about balancing your life and your kids,” Erist said “It was just cool hearing all of these people who are in cool positions there was even a surgeon that was cool too.” Steward said during the Zoom meeting with the panelists she felt an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere talking to the speakers and students. “It was pretty comfortable when you asked a question. You didn’t feel dumb and the panelists were really nice and took you seriously. They are really kind, especially the business woman,” Steward said. According to Roether, in the future she plans to continue holding Zoom meetings about professional women, not only locally but expand globally as well. “It’s definitely something we are talking about. Now that we have done it once, we sorted out the kinks. I think it can be awesome to continue doing these,” Roether said. “There are so many amazing women not only in the Twin Cities in Minnesota but all over the country that we can hopefully get to speak.”
Anti-maskers further the divide Jayde Claussen jaydeclaussen@slpecho.com
The powerful panalists
Jordana Green WCCO radio host
Rahel Ghebre Gynecological oncologist surgeon
Neomi Rao Circuit judge of the U.S. Court
Renay Dossman
Sandy Sondell & Ellie Covin
Crystal Ballard
Business woman, entrepreneur
Psychologists
Hopkins High School principal
Art DESIGN BY
Johanna Kaplan
7
I
remember vividly the moments that precipitated my bitterness like it was yesterday. A woman walked into my place of work and didn’t have a mask on. We are now a year into the pandemic, and yet, some Minnesotans are still not following the mandate. I asked her if she could put on her mask and she looked at me with pity in her eyes. She said, “I will not do that. I’m being free. I’m being a patriot, and I will not put on a mask.” At first I thought she was joking and responded with “funny,” but, I realized she was not as she responded “I am not a sheep. I will not wear a mask.” I was taken back to the first week I started at this company and encountered the same problem. When I attempted to refuse service, I was reminded by my manager that we are not allowed to do that. In this moment, I faced a dilemma as I am now the manager and free to do the “right thing” by refusing service. I had to think about my representation of the What’s the company. I didn’t want to lose my job POINT? over a five-minute mask dispute. Frustration overtook me, and I said to my coworker “just deal with her please.” The woman left, and I talked with my coworkers about the incident. We have very different political views, but we agreed that this shouldn’t be a political issue. This was a matter of taking other people into consideration. One coworker told me that despite his disbelief in the severity of the COVID-19, he still wears a mask regularly and takes the issue seriously because he tries to understand how other people feel about it to be considerate. Later that day, a young guy came in and didn’t have a mask, this time another manager was there. I told him to put his mask on, or I would not serve him. My fellow manager pulled me aside to tell me we were there to inform customers of our policy and the mask mandate put in place by Gov. Tim Waz. Once again, I let the frustration devour me and took a break to collect myself. “This is stupid.” I thought to myself, “why am I getting so worked up over a mask?” It didn’t take long for me to answer that question — I remembered why I wear a mask. I care about stopping this virus in its tracks and protecting people who need it most.
