MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – Julia Fallows, a member of the Millersville women's track and field and cross country teams, has plans of making a difference, and she believes that starts with education. During Millersville University's spring break, rather than heading to the beach for relaxation, Fallows took advantage of an opportunity through the
Millersville Circle of American Association of University Women (AAUW) to attend the
67th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York City, N.Y., held at the United Nations Headquarters from March 6-17. For Fallows, every opportunity to learn now is an opportunity to someday make an impact.
A sophomore, Fallow serves as Millersville's AAUW co-president alongside Allison Mengel and works to build opportunities for women. Dr. Jill Craven and Dr. Kaitlyn Mondello oversee the AAUW. The AAUW members spent three days in New York City and attended nine different panels.
"The goal of this network is to create leadership opportunities for women and girls in academic and professional settings," said Fallows. "In addition to promoting leadership opportunities for women, we participate in different activities that help female students build resumes, promote themselves and ensure that they'll have success in the field of their choosing. We were connected with Cheryl Desmond, the Board President for the nonprofit organization SERR, and she helped us go to the United Nations, and through grants and funding from the school, we were able to make the trip and participate."
At the UN Headquarters, Fallows took part in sessions focused on innovation and technology, digital literacy and access to technology for women and girls, especially in areas of the world in which women are pushed out of education. Fallows, a secondary education English major and 200-meter and 400-meter runner for the track and field team, attended a panel that combined components of her passion for athletics and education.
"The one that was really important for me to attend was 'Enhancing Research Education Advocacy in Women's sports through Technology,'" said Fallows. "It stood out to me because I'm a student-athlete here at Millersville, and I plan to continue my athletic career outside of college whether that's coaching, or creating sports programs or intramural sports. I just think it's a great way to build confidence in young women and get them involved in the community. Also, a good slogan for me is 'strength through movement,' and I think you can apply that anywhere."
Fallows learned "strength through movement" as a volunteer at the Benchmark Program in Lancaster, Pa., where she volunteers during open gyms, serves as a tutor and teaches marketable skills to young students who are referred through the Lancaster County Juvenile Probation and Children & Youth Agency. What is most important to Fallows, however, simply spending time with students who are working to be productive members of the community.
"Benchmark is a weightlifting program designed to serve the most at-risk population, which is underserved youth," said Fallows. "This is a non-profit organization and one example of what the organization does is help students that are put on probation, and instead of going to a state program, they're able to take classes and go through a weightlifting program at Benchmark."
Fallows plans to continue interacting and educating youth as a high school English teacher and coach after her track and field career as a Marauder is complete.
"I want to teach in high school, be an active member of the community as well as a global citizen," said Fallows. "I want to make sure I have a role in society, the choices that are being made and make sure I'm participating in the world around me; it's more than just what happens in the classroom...At the young age of 19 I'm constantly learning. I really don't know anything, and being able to accept that I don't know anything and taking in all of this information one step at a time is important. I think what I learned the most from this is that there's no substitute for experience; going to the United Nations, every track meet I compete in, every class I take or even my plans to study abroad in the summer, there will always be something there that doesn't have a substitute. I'm not going to gain experience from sitting on the sidelines and I want to learn everything."
The Millersville outdoor team is coming off its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship since 1996 and begins its title defense at Biemsdefer Stadium on Saturday, April 1 at 9:30 a.m. during the Millersville Metrics.
