A Look Inside the Center for Women's Leadership
We hear about the Center for Women’s Leadership, affectionately regarded by students as the “new building”, all the time at school. However, actually walking through its newly constructed halls and envisioning the classes and students which would soon fill them was an entirely different experience. Just looking at the still bare walls or walking on the dusty floors made the building so much realer than it had been before. The impact it will make on my life and the lives of other ND students is now much more abundantly clear to me.
The tour was an enriching, albeit loud, look into the daily lives of the workers who are making the new building a reality. There is never a dull moment on any of the three floors; everyone has an essential task not just to do, but to do well. I will not pretend that I am privy to the nomenclature, codes, materials, or machines of a live construction site, however the workers’ explanations enlightened me and my fellow J-Crew members to the basics of how the site operates.
While some teams are brought in for one specific task, others bounce around to varying jobs. Rick, our construction supervisor, explained that he preferred to stick to one task and see it all the way through. We learned other tidbits like how each window pane can weigh several hundred pounds, requiring a whole time to lift it, or while using scissor lifts in the building, marley-like floor covering must be laid down. My major takeaways from the experience were that safety is top priority (hence, our very fashionable goggles and vests) and that similarly to our student body, everyone has an important purpose. Everyone’s work is connected.
The tour has made me appreciate even more the work that is done everyday for the new building. I encourage all students to not only greet workers with kindness as we have before, but also ask questions to learn more. I am very excited for the coming school year and the joys that the Center For Women’s Leadership will bring current classes and classes for generations to come.
