Last week, I accompanied a group of Year 10s to the International Women’s Day Breakfast that was hosted by the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia, and held at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

Designed to bring students from Years 10-12 and their teachers together, this annual event celebrates the importance of International Women’s Day.

Below, some of our Year 10 students share their reflections.

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“Attending the International Women’s Day breakfast was a great opportunity to meet some of the strong female leaders that run the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia, as well as the guest speaker, Dr Amy Brown. It was such an amazing experience to hear about what these women have to say about the way forward in our society, and the things we can do to ensure that we keep progressing to a society where women and men are seen and treated as equal in all aspects of their lifestyles, be that equal pay for equal work, equal opportunity for positions of leadership and power, or equal reception in any other situation. In particular, it was illuminating to hear about how Dr Amy Brown is taking unpaid leave from her source of income to pursue her writing aspirations, and how even though she will now be temporarily financially dependent on her husband, she explained how she doesn’t feel like she’s lost her independence because it is her choice to pursue this path and it is what is best for her at the moment. This further reiterated to me how important it is that we all do whatever we can to chase our dreams, because no matter what obstacles might lay in wake, the personal satisfaction we will feel upon rising up to these challenges and accomplishing our goals or reaching where we want to be will present itself in the form of increased strength of character which will help us further empower ourselves to strive for the next dawn breaking on our horizons. I strongly advise anyone who might be interested in attending the International Women’s Day breakfast in the coming years to embrace this opportunity and others like it when you can, because the inspiration and empowerment that is cultivated at this event will make you even stronger than you already are.” Tahlia Guzzardi

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“The International Women’s Day breakfast was a great opportunity to open my eyes to the potential that women, in particular girls, have. It was truly inspiring to see so many girls’ schools come together, enjoy breakfast and acknowledge the achievements that women have made throughout history. As the girls and I chatted while we waited for the guest speaker, I felt as though we were able to connect, strengthening our bonds as a group. The speech was indeed moving, prompting me to reflect on my values and question how social norms have shaped me as a person. The overall interaction with not just girls from our School, but that of others made this a profoundly eye-opening experience. I would strongly recommend this breakfast to the girls next year.” Flora Du

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“Over the years, I have taken notice of how women are getting more confident in themselves, and more confident to speak out on their hardships. How women are setting forth and making a difference. How they are experiencing and expressing things now that they may have been too scared to previously. But to be in a room full of women who are making a difference and empowering not only themselves, but others as well, it gave me a whole new perspective. Each of the women in the room had experienced their own form of hardship or neglect, but they had overcome that, and let their hardships become a part of who they are, not something to stop them on their journey. The way these women were able to speak their opinion without fear of judgement was inspiring and encouraging to everyone in the room. Also, as an aspiring author myself, to listen how Dr Amy Brown had risen to being the successful writer and teacher she is, has given me hope for my own future, as well as some key pieces of advice. Some of that advice includes being true to myself and my own values, and expressing myself in whatever way I see fit, whether it’s art or speaking or writing. Another was to use whatever influence I can to help make the world a better place for everyone. This was a very new experience for me, and it is not an experience I will forget any time soon.” Phoebe Russell

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“Over the past few months especially, I have begun to notice the inequalities that exist in our own society. And despite knowing that feminism, and equality as a whole, has come so far in recent years, I now realise that it still has a long way to go. However, being in a room surrounded by hundreds of inspiring young women just like us, all with a passion to attain equality, I also realise that we all have the ability to achieve it. The women’s day breakfast was one of the most inspiring events I have been to as a woman. The words of Dr Amy Brown, inspired me, as I’m sure they did every other girl in the room, and taught me that we all have the ability to raise our voice and fight for change even if it is only within our own communities. And while eating a particularly delicious croissant and listening to the enormously moving speech of Dr Brown, there was one thing in particular that especially resonated with me. I have learnt that we, as extremely privileged young women growing up in today’s society, do not have the power to enact change, but rather, we are the power. We are all infinite energy sources with our own ability to make a difference. And whether we decide to be the power is up to us. And so, I had always thought that it would take a radical transformation to finally attain equality amongst the genders, I thought that some huge force of power was needed to enact change, but I now know that we are that power.” Ava Colosimo

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“I am extremely grateful that I was a part of such a special morning as you were surrounded by girls from other schools and guest speakers connecting us all with desire for gender equality in the future and what we can do to assist this problem. We had a guest speaker, Dr Amy Brown, who discussed her struggles of being a woman and educated us on the overall struggles through metaphors and historical examples as she has majored in poetry and English. Overall, I enjoyed the breakfast as it reminded us women of all the struggles we’ve overcome and what we still need to continue to do to create an equal future for our generation and the next.” Catherine Karas

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“The Independent Women’s Day breakfast was a real eyeopener for all of the girls in Year 10 who attended. We all found the guest speakers tremendously inspiring and left the Grand Hyatt hotel with a sense of pride to be a woman in today’s society, and with a stronger sense of drive to chase our dreams, knowing that many amazing women have succeeded in their careers and their passions. Personally, as I listened to speakers address the important issues in today’s world in relation to women and inequality, I was quite confronted. Of course, I knew that we were far away from reaching equality, however, once the facts appeared right in front of me, I realised that we need to take action. And, with that newfound knowledge, I believe that I can make a change. That everyone at School, in Toorak, in Australia, and in the entire world, can make a change. Every single person has the ability to help women around the world. I think this is an important thing to remember.” Freya Cantwell