Narrator: Sandra Simmons Interviewer: Lia Troisi LT: What kind of advice would you give to young women today? SS: I would say that you need to pay attention to balance in your life. I remember a friend saying to me in the 80s, "We can have it all," and I thought, "Not all at once." It's hard to do it all: be a good mom, be a good employee, and be a community activist and to take time for yourself. You have all those things come into play. You may need to do something that will allow you to be where you want to be, but overall you need to find what a good balance is for you; so you're not over stretching yourself to the max. Narrator: Terry Saba Interviewer: Blair Kowalinski BK: What kind of advice would you like to give young women today? TS: To make sure they have an education. I think marriage and children come first, but I do think they need a college education. Just in case. Narrator: AZ Interviewer: Gabi Porter GP: What kind of advice would you give young women today? AZ: Come out, wherever you are! [laughs] Get a good education. Learn how to discover who you are. Notice I said learn how to discover who you are. You learn how to discover who you are by being exposed to as many things as you can and trying them on for size. Experiment. See what you like. Figure out who you are. And don't let anyone else define you; you define yourself. Don't let your parents, or your brothers and sisters, or your friends, or your boyfriends, or girlfriends, or anybody tell you who you are. It's up to you. That's your job as an adult human being, man or woman, actually. It's to know who you are and to act like an adult, to grow up and be self-sustaining and not make a mess. Be cool. Not make a mess. [laughs] Grow up, act right, pull up your socks, and pull your own weight in the world. Narrator: Pam Petty Interviewer: Summer Rohde SR: What kind of advice would you give to young women today? PP: Get more education, and get it right. Don't be doing this just try to just make it through the courses. Because they (students) are working, they say "You're giving us too much work because we are working." Don't you understand that you need this to change your life later? So my advice would be don't work more than 20 hours a week. We can see grades change after 20 hours a week. Narrator: Sue Sossaman Interviewer: Jessica Rogers JR: What kind of advice would you give to young women today? SS: There's nothing like being a volunteer. You can change people's lives so much; children's lives so much. I think it opens up your mind, heart, and horizon because most of us are not raised in a family that has abuse, or drug and alcohol abuse, even though it's more prevalent than we would like to think. That would be my advice to young people, men and women. Get out at church, special agencies, Meals on Wheels, just simple things, Habitat for Humanity, any of those that can help someone else will empower you and makes your life better. Narrator: Mary Lou Timma Interviewer: Kandi Kastl-Manuel KKM: What kind of advice would you give to young women today? MT: Get as much education as you can, and be morally good. Don't live with somebody until you want to get married, get married first. The morality of some young people now a days isn't good for them. Get a lot of education and again, be good, have self-respect. Photos courtesy of the families. Back to Community History Home