She’s The First members walk to raise awareness for women’s education

Ten girls marched together Monday night to represent the miles marched by young girls across the world to get to school.

She’s The First, a UF club that sponsors women’s education, held its first mile-long walk from the New Physics Building to Matherly Hall. The event was to kick off International Education Week and raise awareness of the grueling walk and dangers women in low-income communities face to attend school, said Michelle Ospina, the club’s vice president of operations.

“A lot of the scholars we sponsor live in countries where they have to travel so far,” the 20-year-old UF accounting junior said. “With our scholarships we’re able to provide them buses, bicycles or some type of transportation to get them to their secondary schools.”

She’s The First raises money to send girls in less developed nations across the world to school. It costs about $500 to send one girl to school, which is matched by the club’s national group, Ospina said.

The girls walked along UF’s campus behind Katy Frey, She’s The First director of community events. During the walk, Frey carried a poster with bright purple, orange and blue writing that advertised the club and International Education Week.

After the walk, which took about 30 minutes, the club members had a short discussion on the Plaza of the Americas. Frey asked trivia questions and shared statistics about women’s education around the world.

Olivia Allen, a UF anthropology and psychology junior, said the event showed her how lucky she is to have access to a good education system.

“We consider a mile such a long way to walk to class, but in reality it isn’t,” the 20-year-old said.

Members of She’s The First club finish their mile-long walk toward Matherly Hall. The walk was held to raise awareness about women’s education around the world.