Ophelia’s Girls is a club centered around the empowerment of middle school girls through mentorship from female Colgate University students. It is one of the many clubs affiliated with and supported by the Max A. Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education (COVE).
First-year Ada Linde is a member of Ophelia’s Girls.
“We go to Madison Central School and mentor a group of middle schoolers over lunch every Thursday,” Linde said.
Mentorship can take many forms, and when working with the younger girls, who are giving up their free time during lunch to participate in the club, it is important that members of Ophelia’s Girls use different techniques to engage with them.
First-year Scarlett Blank, the leader of Ophelia’s Girls, highlighted the structure of their Thursday routine.
“[What we do] varies week to week, but typically, we get there and split into small tables with a few Colgate students and a few Madison Central students. We catch up on our weeks and then start the activity. If it’s a craft or small group activity, each group talks amongst themselves, but sometimes we do lessons or full group activities where we are all working and talking together,” Blank said.
Club leader and sophomore Jaya Wadhera explained that Ophelia’s Girls designs their lessons and activities to cover many topics, allowing the club to educate the younger girls on subjects that are likely to impact them at this point in their lives.
“We discuss a wide range of topics from bullying, physical and mental health, menstruation to stress management,” Wadhera said.
However, the club does not only use set activities and games in their mentoring sessions. The club provides a safe environment for the younger girls to discuss the specific challenges they are facing and get guidance from girls who have likely experienced similar situations that they are facing now.
“[In some sessions] the students can choose what we talk about,” Blank said. “Sometimes, they want to talk about struggles they’re having with friendships; sometimes they want to talk about sports and pop culture, and sometimes the conversation is all over the place.”
The repeated visits of the mentors to the school allow the younger girls to feel connected and comfortable with the members of Ophelia’s Girls. Building this trust is key because it allows the mentors to move past surface-level conversations and provide guidance on important subjects and specific challenges.
“When I first started going to Ophelia’s Girls and spending time with the girls, the conversations felt more forced and a little awkward. However, as I’ve grown to know the girls better, it’s really nice to see them become more comfortable and want to open up more,” Blank explained. “The girls share problems they want advice on with me because they trust my opinion and value what I have to say. That’s a really rewarding feeling that I know I’ve had to work towards.”
Middle school is a challenging time, and having someone to look up to and seek guidance from can have a profound impact. Ophelia’s Girls makes a difference because it provides a space for young girls to connect with young women who have been in their same positions. It is also beneficial because it provides students with someone to talk and get advice from other than their parents which can sometimes be intimidating.
“It’s valuable for middle school-aged girls to have people to go to who are close in age, relatable and non judgemental,” Blank reflected. “Sometimes, parents offer advice that feels hard to connect with and unrealistic, but I was in middle school only a few years ago, so I can put myself in the girls’ shoes and give them advice on what I would do. We also are there to help them, so it’s a very open and judgment-free space where girls can speak their minds without fear that it will be repeated or spread around.”
