Every semester, the Women’s Centre takes on two new practicum students to share our approach to feminist practices and the peer model. Over the years, these amazing women have accomplished so much.
Join us in welcoming our newest students Stacy (right) and Yohana (left).
Tell us a bit about yourself…
Stacy: I am active, creative and energetic. I really enjoy the outdoors and love to go camping, hiking and walking throughout the year. I am really outgoing and love meeting new people. I am very family-oriented and spend a lot time with loved ones, particularly my chubby cat named Lucy. One kind of unique fact about me is that I have a twin (but he’s a boy, so it’s really not that exciting).
Yohana: I am a social work student at the University of Calgary. I will be at the Women’s Centre as a practicum student for the next few months for my degree program.
What is your personal definition of feminism?
Yohana: I think feminism is about realizing that women are marginalized and working towards creating equal opportunities for women to succeed in their communities.
Stacy: Feminism is a perspective that I feel really suits my personal values. For me, feminism means recognizing the societal structures and power differentials that affect women. Many women face further barriers because of poverty, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity. Feminism means recognizing that women are marginalized and, in turn, have limited access to resources and are vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and abuse. Feminist practice is important in addressing the societal source of those vulnerabilities, changing policy and empowering women.
What brought you to the Women’s Centre of Calgary?
Stacy: The Women’s Centre became of particular interest to me after taking a feminist course that focussed on violence against women. I have always related to the feminist perspective and wanted to see it in practice. I realized how important it is for women to have access to community resources and safe, respectful environments. These things made me more aware of the social issues that affect women and sparked my desire to want to help women.
Yohana: My passion for working with different marginalized groups brought me to the Women’s Centre of Calgary. I wanted to learn about the different resources women could access, so the Women’s Centre seemed like the perfect place.
What’s one thing you hope to learn at the Women’s Centre?
Yohana: After seeing the number of programs offered to help women at the Women’s Centre, there are a lot of things I hope to learn. I want to know more about different social issues, as well as what is being done to tackle barriers women face on a daily basis.
Stacy: One thing I am excited to learn about at the Women’s Centre is community resources. Within the social work world, there is nothing more important than knowing which resources are available and putting them to use.
Describe a woman who you admire and/or has influenced your life.
Stacy: A woman I recently met who I admire is one of my professors for the violence against women course I took last semester. She is inspiring, smart and a die-hard feminist. She has taught me a lot about violence against women and its social implications. She gave me a more profound understanding of feminism and how other perspectives can overlap, conflict or compliment feminist practice.
Yohana: This has always been a hard question for me because there are plenty of women I admire and look up to in my life. There are different groups of women around the world working hard to tackle issues they face in communities and cultures that oppress them. These are the women I am inspired by because they risk everything to go against those who do not value their knowledge or worth simply because they are women. These women force me to be courageous, speak my mind, and most importantly value myself as a woman.