Glamour magazine spotlight

Junior females, are you making a difference? Glamour Magazine wants to know and Professor Donna Decker urges you to think twice before counting yourself out. "I do not see any reason why a Franklin Pierce junior shouldn't claim one of the top 10 spaces," she stated, challenging Franklin Pierce juniors to think more broadly about what leadership and making a difference means.

Glamour Magazine is looking to spotlight 10 women in college who are making a difference. Once selected as a member of Glamour's 2010 Top 10, the student receives $3,000 dollars, recognition in the magazine, and a trip to New York City to attend the awards luncheon.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the contest is that Glamour doesn't just want to know what you've done, but what you want to do. They are interested in goals, and that, Professor Decker says, "is where we have to think about leadership and making a difference more broadly." In other words, you don't have to have starting a food shelter in your home town at 12 on your resume to be considered an individual who makes a difference. Do you strive to be the best female student you can be? Do you speak out on campus? Do you help lead discussions in your classes? Do you want to go to grad school so you can make a difference in the world? The Glamour contest is about being a role model, about living a life of integrity. Making a difference does not have to be on a grand scale to still be profoundly affecting the people around you.

"If I thought this was a contest about bodies, faces, etc. I wouldn't do this," Professor Decker firmly stated. So junior female, we seniors challenge you to show Glamour just how interesting and inspiring our Franklin Pierce juniors are; we challenge you to realize you are remarkable individuals; we challenge you to set up a meeting with Professor Decker and at least talk about the competition. It's exposure in a national magazine after all, and Professor Decker is willing to help you through the whole process. "You'll never know [how you will do] until you try," and you might surprise yourselves juniors.

The deadline is December 1, 2009. Please contact Professor Decker at deckerd@franklinpierce.edu for more information on the application process. See what the competition is all about at www.glamour.com/contest.