April 22, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - On April 4, several Santa Clara student-athletes representing three women's programs helped welcome the LA-based Step Up Women's Network to the Mission Campus for an afternoon of sightseeing and fun.
Step Up Women's Network is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to serving women and girls. It's the go-to organization for women looking to support underserved girls, while developing their own professional and social networks. Our 50,000 supporters benefit from ongoing opportunities for dynamic social networking, professional mentorship and development, hands-on volunteer work, and health support and education. Step Up connects you with the professional women you need and the underserved teen girls who need you.
Chelsea Bednarz and Lindsay Wicher of women's soccer, Miki Ueoka and Tammy Surtees of women's golf, and Lena Gipson, Alyssa Shoji, Kathy Willinsky and Kendall Keith of women's basketball spent the afternoon with underserved teens, showing them around the Mission Campus and inspiring them to continue their education.
"I had a blast showing the girls around campus," said freshman Keith. "It was really fun to see how excited and enthusiastic they were about Santa Clara. Touring the campus made me realize how many opportunities we have here and the fact that we had the chance to inspire these girls about college was a great feeling. Along with touring, we also had the opportunity to get to know and talk with them about high school life and what to expect in college since we were in their place not to long ago. Overall it was really fun and hopefully some of them will become Broncos!"
The following are testimonials for the Step Up students:
"Santa Clara is a school I see myself being happy at, studying hard and really making the most of my time at college."
-Arshley
"I think Santa Clara has the nicest people, most beautiful campus and is the perfect place for me to achieve my dreams."
-Michelle
"Santa Clara is wonderful!!! I love the atmosphere, smell of nature, the people and the whole school itself. I see myself going there because there are many majors to choose from, and I know I can take my time to figure things out. I am so happy that I found this school because now I feel the motivation that had been missing before. I know that I am going to push myself harder to get better grades and to get scholarships because when a person wants something they have to work for it no matter how hard it is. And I want to get to Santa Clara, and I will work hard for it. I am so thankful for the girls that took time out of their daily life to give us Step Up girls the wonderful tours that led me and many other classmates to fall in love with the school. Getting to know these hard-working and motivated women made me realize that if they made it, I could too. So this fall I will definitely be applying to Santa Clara."
-Elsy
For more information about the Step Up Women's Network, visit their official web site at www.suwn.org.