Damsels Empowered
“Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.” – Henri Nouwen
This last week was full of surprises - mostly good - but a skill that I am continuously working on is approaching unexpected things with a positive attitude. I think for all of the international interns, this is a skill that is indispensable, whether one is pursuing a career in public international law or private corporate law, or anything in between. Especially when living in a different culture, it can be easy to tire of surprises and yearn for what is known. But ingenuity is often borne of stepping outside your comfort zone and approaching the unknown as a learning opportunity instead of an obstacle.
Last week, through a buzzword we hear a lot in law school, networking, Beth and I had the privilege of visiting the Vilnius office of Eversheds Sutherland, known as Eversheds Saladžius. What I originally thought was going to be a brief tour through their office ended up with us being warmly greeted by the managing partner, Jonas Saladžius. We engaged in a fruitful conversation with him about what it was like working in an international corporate law firm. Not only did we discuss the firm's elite clients and upcoming deals, we learned about cutting-edge green energy initiatives the Vilnius office is involved in, such as waste-to-fuel cogeneration plants currently being built in various parts of Lithuania. Furthermore, we ended up being offered the opportunity to job shadow the attorneys in the office, and to use their office space for our research.
As if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, Mr. Saladžius emailed us that afternoon to ask us if we were potentially interested in attending a screening of "My Year With Helen", a documentary about Helen Clark and her bid to become the first female United Nations Secretary General. Of course, we immediately accepted the offer to go! Mrs. Clark is the former prime minister of New Zealand (the first elected female prime minister) and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and was present at the screening and the reception afterwards. The screening was organized by the Council of World Women Leaders, a network of current and former Presidents and Prime Ministers. It is hosted by the UN foundation, and is the only organization in the world dedicated to women heads of state and government. Needless to say, that evening, we fell headfirst into an incredibly inspiring event.
Spoiler ahead! Though, you can't really spoil real life, can you? Helen Clark was not chosen for UN Secretary General. António Guterres ended up being elected for the position in 2016, and is the current UN Secretary General. Much of the discussion in the documentary, as well as the question and answer session afterwards, was about how there is still a glass ceiling for women that work in the United Nations and the diplomatic arena.
The Secretary General and co-founder of the Council of Women World Leaders, the incredibly accomplished Laura Liswood, moderated the Q&A and was really the star of the show at the reception. Also present at the reception was Mary Thurston, New Zealand's ambassador to Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia. Beth and I ended up mingling with two Lithuanian women who were passionate about women's leadership initiatives in their respective fields, law and software development. Funnily enough, the lawyer specialized in international arbitration, which is a practice area that I am interested in pursuing. Then, Louise Upston, formerly New Zealand's Minister for Women, joined our conversation. Her humility and passion for women's empowerment have inspired me all week, and her advice to us will stick with me forever. She told us that too many women see leadership as an end goal, or they think they cannot be a leader until they reach a certain role. Instead, she encouraged us to think of leadership as an everyday choice, as something that can be lived out on a daily basis through our actions.
Louise Upston's inspiring advice reminded me of all the insight I have gained as a member of William & Mary Law School's Leadership Institute, which is led by Professor Laura Heymann and Professor Erin Hendrickson. At one of our meetings, we discussed "lollipop moments", a term coined by Drew Dudley when he gave a TED Talk on everyday leadership. Essentially, lollipop moments are encounters where you may have made a profound impact on someone else's life without even knowing it. Our chance encounter with Louise Upston was a lollipop moment for me, and inspires me to exemplify leadership every day, even as a legal intern, instead of putting it off until a later date.
Then, this past weekend, Beth and I decided to go outside of the city to visit a castle! Trakai Island Castle is a castle situated on Lake Galvė that was built in the 14th century. The inside of the castle is a museum full of interesting artifacts from all over the world, including a pretty sizable collection of porcelain from countries including China, France, Poland, and others.
We took a pedal boat around the lake before we explored the museum inside the castle. When we were trying to rent out the boat from the edge of the lake, the lady who ran the boat rental did not speak English. I don't speak Lithuanian, nor do I speak Russian (which is often people's second language here, especially for the older generation). Finally, we ended up figuring out the price to rent the boat, as well as how long we could use it through our only common language, German. My German skills are very shoddy, but it did the trick in this case, and we pedalled off into the distance.
A common trope in age-old fairytales is the damsel in distress. The story often goes like this: a princess is placed in a dangerous situation from which she cannot escape, and has to be saved by a noble prince. My experience at the women's leadership conference last week showed me that the narrative is already shifting, and will continue to change as long as women continue to work together to lift each other up. Ironically, I visited a castle this weekend. But I am not a damsel in distress. I am a damsel, empowered.