Joining WLP this year is easily one of the best decisions I've made in college. Even virtually, I've had the chance to meet and form friendships with so many motivated, ambitious, and supportive women. Whether it's hyping each other up on Instagram posts or congratulating each other on LinkedIn ones, WLP feels like the biggest friend group I've ever had. I've also really enjoyed the smaller WLP class sizes where we can learn in more comfortable environments and bond over studying the same topics. It's also made it less daunting to go to large lecture classes because there is almost always a familiar WLP face. My WLP experience has been amazing so far and I'm really grateful for the community that has formed despite challenging circumstances.
Tappy Lung
It might seem like an entire virtual year would put a damper on our one-year-only program, but I've found the Women's Leadership Program to be even more beneficial to me in this semester than it may have been in person. The hardest part of starting college online is creating friendships; you can't just Zoom message someone and ask to be their friend (or, I guess you could, but I'm certainly not that bold). The Women's Leadership Program gave me friendships in a year where I easily could have walked away with none. It even granted me the ability to move to DC with five awesome roommates from the WLP, three of whom are from the International Politics cohort, like me! I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to live together or have classes in person or meet some of our Symposium speakers face to face, but I'm grateful that I chose to be a part of the Women's Leadership Program at GW and can't wait to finally meet everyone for real.
Miya Libman
Being a part of the WLP community has been one of the best experiences I have had at GW. Even though classes were virtual, the community provided me with a direct network to make friends and be involved in so many different events and activities. One of my favorite memories from my year in WLP is getting to present my UW 1020 research paper at symposium. After spending an entire semester researching and writing my paper, it was really rewarding to get to share my work with my fellow peers and WLP professors. Beyond getting to present myself, it was also amazing to watch my friends present their research. Seeing how passionate everyone was about their topics was really inspiring and powerful. I am very grateful for the WLP community and the friends I have made through the program. Although online classes have been challenging, I have never felt truly isolated because I know I can always reach out to my friends in WLP.
Isabelle Abreo
I really enjoyed the sense of unity that I've experienced in WLP. My classes did not feel like class, but yet I learned so much. We formed a community that allowed for informal conversation. It was a nice contrast to the large, fast paced classes that I take outside of WLP.
Danielle White