"Take Our Daughters to Work" Day 2001

co-sponsored by Commission on Women

ESSAY WINNERS

Note: The essay winners were invited to read their winning essay during a luncheon sponsored by the Commission on Women on May 2, 2001 attended by over 300 faculty, staff, and administrators. Each of the winners received a $25.00 gift certificate from a Duluth department store of their choice.

 Sara Andrews

5th Grade
Congdon Park Elementary

Grades 5 and under category

Molly Talbot

6th Grade
Piedmont School

Grades 6-7 category

 

I hop into my green space mobile and zoom off to work. The funny thing is today is "Take Your Son to Work" Day.You see, they are encouraging boys to work when they get older. This problem began a long time ago when "Take Your Daughter to Work" Day was popular. That encouraged so many girls and women to pursue big careers that men started losing their jobs. Well, anyway, now that my story is over I had better go to work.

When I arrived at work, I parked my mobile and floated inside. Today I was going to interview for a position to run this huge business that I have been working at as a secretary for one month. After I filled out some papers and typed a news article about some aliens coming to planet Twinklestar, it was 11:75 and 1/2. Time for my job interview. I floated down the hall and into an office more than five times as big as mine. When I was in the huge office an old man was waiting for me. He said, "I am too old to run such a big business and I am looking for someone to take over and you are my first choice. If you can answer this one question, you will be the boos of this business." Then he asked me the question. "Have any of your ancestors gone to Take Your Daughter to Work Day?" When I answered "Yes, it was my great, great, great, great, great Grandmother," the man said, "Sara, you get the job." After being in my new job for a week, I realized how much fun I was having doing it when I worked overtime and didn't even realize it!

My Dream of the Workforce of Tomorrow is that everyone would be treated equal even whether they are man or woman, black or white, disabled or riot.

Some people are put in difficult positions when they are disabled because sometimes people don't take them as seriously as others and other times they might make fun of them. That also goes for young adult. Older people think of themselves as more experienced so they don't pay very much attention to the younger people.

My idea of the Workforce of Tomorrow is younger and disabled people getting into more of the working environment Maybe even lads. Just think, wouldn't it be cool if there was a paper run by kids? Or even a factory run by disabled people?

There are pros and cons about different groups working together. Some pros are: you would have new and more "hip" ideas from younger people, all of the people would come from different backgrounds and have new and different ways of dealing with situations, and the workforce would be a much livelier environment.

Some cons are: you might not have many coworkers who agree with you about a mix of different backgrounds, you might lose business, and it could cost a lot of extra money to put in handicapped facilities.

All of the cons I have listed are fixable. My dream of the Workforce of Tomorrow is that all people whether man or woman, young or old, rich or poor, black or white, disabled or not, and people with differing sexual identities could all join together to make one large, happy workforce.