Southwest Airlines had the privilege of sponsoring the 22nd Annual State Directors Conference for Women in Government in Tampa, Florida. The purpose of our Company is to connect People to what’s important in their lives, which we were able to accomplish with one of the attendees, Maria Moscoso. Maria is a recent graduate of Smith College and a Future Women in Government alumna. In honor of Women’s History Month, Maria recalls this experience to express the significance of women working together to build a stronger society and how it has impacted her personal goals. Recently, I had the great privilege to participate in the 22nd Annual State Directors Conference for Women in Government. I had the incredible opportunity to meet and speak with passionate leaders and insightful expert panelists as they discussed issues with and solutions to prominent problems that affect our daily society. These leaders, all women legislators from around the country, were so full of knowledge and drive that it made it impossible to not feel an equal excitement for each speaker. From adult obesity to criminal justice reform, I was constantly on the edge of my seat listening to experts and legislators discuss their experiences and desire for change. As a young Latina, I continue to see many of the problems these speakers mentioned affecting my own community nationwide. This is the reason I would like to follow in these women’s footsteps and run for office one day. I loved the amount of passion each State Representative and Senator spoke with when talking about their personal communities and their eagerness to come up with solutions for the issues they were facing. It was encouraging to see the bipartisan support that these women were offering to each other, and the way ideas and experiences were exchanged among the group as if they had all been lifelong friends who only sought the best for one another.
The most impactful experience for me was attending the Economic Stability and Opportunities Meeting where I received an inside look into the minds and processes of leaders who passionately care about their communities and constituents. My favorite moment came at a time when a young legislator from Hawaii raised her hand and told us that before going after the “big kill,” we must recognize what our first steps should be. Her words reminded me that achieving success does not always mean we have to reach our biggest goal in one try, but that it can easily be just as meaningful to create small changes within our communities in order to reach that larger goal. This experience continues to encourage me to work and learn each day so that I may one day sit in the same seat I took this past weekend, but as an official Woman in Government.
