Believe in Your Message

A jam packed day of Emerge training proved to be another successful class that helped to build our skills and strengthen our camaraderie.  After our last training on public speaking, I think many of us were under the impression that it was only going to get easier, but Saturday brought new challenges for us all to conquer.  Beginning with the campaign message, we realized that for a group of women with so many common denominators, we also bring a ton of diversity and various motivations to the table.  People spoke to their passions in equitable education, marriage equality, social services, literacy rates, and much, much more.  As we became our own harshest critics, the looks on the faces of our fellow Emerge program members gave truth to the words that we spoke, an important distinction that was made very clear on that Saturday... believe in your message. 

I can say without hesitation that we all left with pages of notes, especially after a fantastic presentation by Representative Emily Cain offering us valuable tips on the "networking scene."  Emily's humor and expertise made for a fun and engaging presentation and one that I think chipped away at more of our fears and hesitations. 

Each Saturday makes the thought of running for office a bit more real, we are all coming from many different places and directions, but the support and network we are building amongst each other is one of the greatest advantages we will ever have.  Looking forward to the next Saturday!

By Molly Feeney, Emerge Maine Class of 2010