Members of the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.’s Kappa chapter came together to host an event called the Universal Woman Workshop on Tuesday, April 21. The workshop took place at Lawrence D. McHugh Hall and was designed to support students in navigating womanhood.
The workshop was meant to foster goal setting, empowerment, personal growth, community connection, self-reflection and confidence building.
Paula Bermudez, an eighth-semester allied health sciences student and president of the Kappa chapter, said the event was symbolic to the Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.
“The importance of this event is to spread our sorority’s principles and show love and respect for them,” Bermudez said.
The workshop was led by Bermudez and Ashley Villavicencio, an eighth-semester nursing student and a fellow member of the sorority.
Bermudez and Villavicencio began the workshop by giving a lecture on the Universal Woman,
one of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc.’s most iconic symbols. According to Bermudez and Villavicencio, a Universal Woman is a woman who symbolizes growth and resilience, navigates a variety of roles and identities and balances leadership with academics.
After defining the Universal Woman, Bermudez and Villavicencio mentioned that a Universal Woman can be represented in three distinct ways: holding many identities, consistently growing and defining herself on her own terms.
After sharing the three depictions of a Universal Woman, Bermudez and Villavicencio explained some challenges that a Universal Woman might face in her college journey: feeling overwhelmed, struggling with time management, putting others before herself and experiencing burnout.
While discussing these challenges, Bermudez and Villavicencio shared some steps a Universal Woman can take to overcome them. They stated that if a Universal Woman is feeling overwhelmed, she can pause for a second and prioritize herself. For time management, she can remind herself to focus on what truly matters to her instead of trying to do everything at once. In terms of burnout, a Universal Woman can rest and recharge herself. And if putting others before herself is the issue, she can establish some boundaries, so she can keep both herself and others healthy.
Bermudez said that this solution is especially important since a Universal Woman’s ability to guide others is dependent on whether she can aid herself.
“You cannot help others if you cannot help yourself,” Bermudez said.
Moving on from challenges, Bermudez and Villavicencio talked about prevailing through transitions. In the topic, they gave four life lessons: life is full of constant change, growth comes from discomfort, give yourself grace and stay rooted in your purpose.
While detailing on the lesson that growth comes from discomfort, Villavicencio mentioned that a Universal Woman can utilize an array of resources for support, including family, friends, the Dean of Students and the dean of the University of Connecticut college that she’s attending. Villavicencio said that whenever she’s dealing with any barriers in her education or extracurriculars, she seeks assistance from the dean of the School of Nursing.
Villavicencio also declared that while Universal Women may have some rough transitions during her college journey, she’ll keep persisting.
“They continue to grow even when it’s hard,” Villavicencio said.
At the end of the presentation, Bermudez and Villavicencio tasked the attendees by having them ask themselves what identities they’re currently wearing, which one feels the heaviest to them, when do they feel most like themselves and what’s something that’s currently holding them back.
After the reflection, attendees had the opportunity to write a letter to their future selves on FutureMe. After finishing the letters, they selected when they wanted to receive them.
Lindsay Aguilar, a sixth-semester nursing student and the sorority’s community service chair, said the workshop was an excellent learning opportunity.
“The workshop further enlightened us about the universal woman,” Aguilar said.
Natali Cardenes, an eighth-semester allied health sciences student and the vice president of the chapter, said that anyone, including those who aren’t in the sorority, could learn about the Universal Woman by attending the Universal Woman Workshop.
“This workshop shows you that you don’t have to be in this sorority to learn about the Universal Woman,” Cardenes said. “That’s why it’s open for everybody.”
Cardenes also declared that the workshop served as a checkpoint of reflection.
“This workshop helps spread awareness while giving us a checkpoint where we can breathe, relax and remind ourselves that we’re all here for a reason, which is getting a degree one way or another,” Cardenes said. “And it doesn’t really matter how we get it or what obstacles we face. It’s kind of just learning that we’re human and we’re going to make mistakes. But at the end of the day, the outcome is going to be worth the journey.”