There is a background story behind my hashtag title, but first let me
start off this blog post with the Women in Politics conference that I attended
from September 26-27th. The director of the Political Institute for Women
provided me at the last minute with an opportunity to attend this conference. I
could not turn down this chance to learn how to run a successful campaign. I
met an incredible group of strong women, who all share the same vision to
expand the presence of women in political office. Even though women consists of 51 percent of the US population, the reality is only 18 percent of women make up Congress.
Sexism continuously exists as a systematic problem in the society, especially
since women earn less compared to their male counterparts. The speakers in this
conference assisted me by expanding my knowledge in: campaign management, fundraising, campaign
finance, and campaign communications. The most important lesson that I learned
from this conference was to become bold, fierce, and well articulated as we embark on our role to represent women
in the political and business world.
After the conference concluded on
Friday evening, I served as a volunteer at a retreat called the BLD Singles
Encounter 6 in Silver Springs, Maryland. BLD (Bukas
Loob Sa Diyos = Open your heart to Spirit of God) is a Filipino Catholic Church Community that focuses on praising
and worshiping God. BLD has many districts throughout the world. The goals of
the Singles Encounter 6 retreat is to introduce newcomers (the candidates) to
the BLD Singles community and most importantly to rekindle an individual's
relationship with God. I am an active member of the BLD Singles community in
New Jersey and luckily Washington DC also has a BLD Singles district. Instead
of only volunteering for one day, I unintentionally served the whole entire weekend. I
appreciated the warmth and acceptance without judgement from the members of the BLD Singles DC community, because
this is my home away from home. I met new friends and my old friends from BLD
Newark, because they came down here from New Jersey to serve in this retreat.
On Sunday, a few of my friends
from BLD Newark decided to go visit the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception in Washington DC. I decided to go with them and it was worth being
able to get lost inside the Basilica. Even if you are not religious, the artwork and the Gothic architecture is quite amazing. This weekend was filled so many factors and emotions, such as: tears, laughter, smiles, yawning in the Eucharistic adoration vigil room, singing, #hashtags, delicious catered Pinoy food, powerful testimonies, funny skits, peace, and healing.
The overall theme of the SE weekend is to "#Break Free”.
As I reflect upon my experience these past couple of days, I came to the
realization that I have grown spiritually and also from a personal standpoint.
I am not the same person that took the Singles Encounter retreat 4 years ago.
Nevertheless, as a month swiftly passes by, I am still continuing to grow
throughout my experience in DC. I made a promise to myself to break free from
my comfort zone by attending more workshops and events, in order to put myself
out there.
Here is a slideshow of all the pictures that I took throughout the weekend. Enjoy.
Women in Politics Conference and SE 6 Weekend by Slidely - Slideshow maker
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