Pearson Collegiate students get a taste of Girl Power

Pearson Collegiate students get a taste of Girl Power. Students participate in the dance workshop as part of Girl Power event Monday at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate in Scarborough. Staff photo/DAN PEARCE

The students were attending the second annual Girl Power! symposium at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute in Scarborough on Jan. 30 where they learned about the impact of media from journalist Karen Horsman, the importance of confidence from Dove's Self-Esteem team, and how to dream from paralympic athlete Vicky Nolan.

"We learned about body image and how to have positive self-esteem. We learned about how not everything in media is real," said Genica Jeganathan, a Grade 8 student at Brookside Public School.

Genica said that is an important message for girls her age who often compare themselves to celebrities and models.

"A lot of girls in this age group want to look like girls in the magazines," she said. "They want to look hotter and prettier."

Genica got to attend the symposium because she is a member of her school's Girls Club where she learned to look at things differently and not judge people based on appearance.

"It's not (outside) beauty that matter, it's what's inside," she said.

Eva Lan, a Grade 8 student at Banting and Best Public School, agreed.

"Beauty isn't everything. If you're confident, you're beautiful inside," she said.

Beauty and self-esteem weren't the only topics of the day, the girls also took part in an interactive dance workshop and they capped off the day with a special motivational speech from Nolan, who is a member of the Canadian Paralympic rowing team that will compete in London in August and September.

She shared her message of what can be achieved with a positive attitude.

Nolan is a special education teacher, mother, and a competitive athlete, but she is also legally blind having lost 97 per cent of her vision because of retinitis pigmentosa.

Diagnosed when she was 18 she lived with more of a "I can't" attitude until six years ago.

"When you let your challenges govern your life you lose your self esteem, you lose yourself," she said.

Her pregnancies and birth of her two children accelerated her vision loss, which brought her to a dark and depressing place where she felt like a failure. But, she found her passion in rowing and is now a strong and confident person who fights for what she believes in.

"I wanted my kids to look at me and be proud of me," she said.

Nolan's positive attitude shines through as she shares a story with the girls.

Determined to be the best in their sport that they can be, Nolan and her rowing partner (who was born without four of her fingers) began racing against men to challenge themselves. She shared at one race the men first asked if they were in the wrong race and then offered to give them a head start. The women ended up winning, but the best part was when the men realized they were not only beat by a pair of women, but by a team "blindfolded and with one hand," she shares with a laugh.

The girls learned a lot from Nolan.

The message Eva took away from her talk was that if you put your mind to it the possibilities are endless about what you can achieve.

"Willpower is really important," Eva said.

A message that also got through to Reshmi Misir, a Grade 8 student at Mary Shadd Public School.

"Determination is really important. If you want to succeed at something you have to put your mind to it," she said.

The girls pledged to share what they learned with other girls at their schools.