What Does Being A Girl Boss Mean To Me?
From being a Girl Boss program participant to becoming a Curriculum and Program Development Fellow at Launch gURLs here is my story.
The Start
I embarked on my Girl Boss journey as a participant in the Girl Boss pilot program. It was at the beginning of my gap year before college, and I was extremely excited to explore a new interest of mine, entrepreneurship, with girls from across the world. I connected my passion for digital safety awareness with the entrepreneurial mindset and graduated with not only foundational entrepreneurial knowledge but with the pivotal experience of transforming an interest into an opportunity. Also, it is through the program that I came to know Launch gURLs and met an inspirational and supportive mentor, Agata.
Mission
As someone whose life was impacted by Launch gURLs’ mission, it was an extraordinary experience joining the Launch gURLs team and taking part in carrying out their incredible work. It was also exhilarating to do work that aligns with my vision: I want to use my unique experiences, skills, and privileges to positively impact others, especially women, children, and people in marginalized communities. During my fellowship, I utilized various skills and experiences, like editing and writing as the former Writer Editor-in-chief at my school and creating lesson plans and activities as a tutor. Also, I was able to exercise my passion for digital citizenship education by building the Digital Proficiency Logic Framework and the Digital Glossary. It gave me energy and a sense of purpose to be part of something bigger than I am, to create a program that will help teen girls become entrepreneurs of their lives. It makes me delighted to imagine how the networking and personal finance levels I wrote could help a girl achieve her life goals, and imagine a girl feeling more confident and equipped with foundational digital proficiency skills to explore the online world safely.
Girl Bosses in the Field
When I reflect on “mission,” I cannot help but think of the Girl Bosses at Launch gURLs. These Girl Bosses are the phenomenal, inspiring women that I had the greatest pleasure to work with and the ones who showed me what mission-oriented work looks like. I wouldn’t have chosen any other place to have done my first fellowship because of them. Each individual, all playing an imperative role, inspired me and has special traits that I admire. I was constantly moved by how we celebrated and learned from each other’s diverse cultures (especially during our lively meeting energizers) and called in each week from different parts of the world with a unified mission and passion buy twitch followers. From excitedly discussing our love for tea to sharing embarrassing yet funny epic failure stories, our weekly meetings were filled with laughter and connection, and I looked forward to them every week. I am extremely grateful to have been exposed to such an incredible working environment and culture where every team member is uplifted and acknowledged. And, of course, I am happy to have spent the past couple of months writing curriculum and creatively brainstorming with the awesome Curriculum Squad.
The Next Stage
Reflecting on the past eight months, I’d say that it was the best way to spend my gap year delving into entrepreneurship and curriculum/program development at a global organization. My journey was filled with rich learning experiences, wonderful people, and great opportunities to explore and exercise my interests. Through the Girl Boss program and my fellowship at Launch gURLs, I was challenged and grew professionally and personally. It was truly an invaluable experience contributing to the development of the Girl Boss Basics program from start to finish. Moreover, for me, being a Girl Boss is a mentality and a mission- a mission to turn issues into opportunities and empower others- which is why my Girl Boss journey will not end with this blog post. I will launch into the next phase of my journey, taking with me the learnings, experiences, and connections I made, and I will continue cheering and supporting Launch gURLs as a Girl Boss.
About the author
This article is written by Imyeong, the Curriculum and Program Development Fellow at Launch gURLs.
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