ANNpower Vital Voices 2016

jellybelly11
Sun, 01 May 2016 22:11:21 +0000

Hi guys,

I recently found out I was accepted as a fellow to attend the Vital Voices Leadership Conference and I thought I could be of some use by sharing on how I got in for all of those who are discouraged to apply next year. I hope that if you weren’t accepted this year that you will reapply next year, because it looks like those who didn’t make it last year and reapplied were able to think more in depth about what they are truly passionate about. In my essays, I wrote about my personal experiences and how it inspired me to create change in an area that I am really passionate about. What might help is thinking about something that YOUR community faces; it can be a small or big project.

If you look through all of the past fellows, they were able to create change on both a small and large scale. Many of the girls also had a different approach–one girl last year connected people in her community through kickboxing, and another through her clubs at school. I think the common misconception is that those who are accepted into this program already had established projects or a foundation for building their non-profit organization. While this may sometimes be the case, they also accept girls who are WILLING to be leaders and are willing to learn-- you don’t need to be established in your area of interest, you just need to be passionate and driven.

Another misconception is that they are looking for 4.0 GPAs, stellar academics, and a long list of extracurriculars. If you don’t have a 4.0 GPA or perfect scores on your standardized tests, don’t be discouraged. As a few users posted before me, they AREN’T looking for perfect students and I don’t think GPA has anything to do with the decision making process, although it is strongly preferred to have stable grades and a good GPA. I have a good GPA but it is not perfect. My grades are good, but also not perfect. My extracurriculars are very extensive and I have leadership positions in clubs which probably helped, but I would like to point out that I am not captain of 3 sports teams at school and I did not have anything super spectacular on my list of extracurriculars. If I can remember correctly, the application only asked for ONE extracurricular that was most important. Again, I wrote briefly about how one of my extracurriculars inspired me to create change.

My point is, don’t be discouraged if you didn’t get accepted this year because there is always next year! There is really no formula for getting accepted-- no minimum GPA, no particular list of extracurriculars, and it doesn’t matter what state you come from because I don’t think there is a quota of acceptances from each state.

All you need is one innovative idea of how to create change in your community so that more women can have their voices heard. I do think that the best projects or ideas stem from personal experiences because it shows that you are reflective and inspired by those in your community or personal life who led you to become who you are today. It also never hurts to think outside the norm when it comes to these things because you need to take into consideration how many applicants may have the same idea as you. The application specifically asks for an “innovative idea or solution” to address “one problem facing your community”. Also, a helpful tip may be to research past fellows and grantees to see what the committee for Vital Voices is looking for. I did this and it really helped, because I was able to see how these young girls were so passionate about creating change in different ways that I had never heard of. All you really need is one idea, and it doesn’t have to be super intricate; the point of this fellowship program is to learn through mentorship on how to make one dream, one plan, one idea, a reality so that we may change the way women are treated and viewed in society.

Therefore, I hope that every girl who applied and didn’t get accepted will feel motivated to reapply because it will show them that you are determined enough to keep trying. This would also be a good time to start narrowing some ideas so that you can use your experiences and passion as a driving force for your application. It took me a while to come really think about something specific and tangible, so don’t be discouraged if your idea doesn’t come to you right away. Also, congratulations to all of those accepted and I hope to meet all of you soon!