DeKALB — The Latino Resource Center [LRC]  and Tashena Briggs, Director of TRIO Upward Bound at Kishwaukee College, held a “Girl Talk”  Wednesday inviting women of color and all female students to discuss obstacles they all had in common.

The event, which has been regularly held in the LRC, was held in Neptune Central this session and aimed to be a safe space for young women by having  casual conversation between students and young professionals. Students discussed personal conflicts such as stress, relationship problems and self-confidence.

Briggs started the event in 2015 when she was residence hall director and has held at least six “Girl Talk’s” since. Briggs began the event because she felt like young women of color didn’t have a space on campus to connect with each other.

“I wanted to bring more people together to connect, we all have a lot more in common than we think,” Briggs said.

Every “Girl Talk”, Briggs brings her “Bucket of Love” where the young females write down a problem concerning them on a piece of paper and put it in the bucket anonymously. Briggs then picks a topic from the “Bucket of Love” and starts a discussion with the students chiming in with their own advice.

“The event is intended to be a safe space to support one another with different things people are going through,” Briggs Said.

Briggs typically holds two “Girl Talks” a year and plans to hold another “Girl Talk” sometime later in the year or next semester. The LRC also holds a similar event, De Mujer a Mujer [From Woman to Woman] which holds seasonal meetings targeted to first or second-year Latina students to guide them academically, according to the Latino Center website.

Two young females that have been going to “Girl Talk” for the past three years say they enjoy the event because the topics they submit are anonymous.

“It makes me feel like I can actually discuss what I want to talk about without being judged,” one of the attendees said.

“I’ve been attending the event for the past three years and I really enjoy it because I can discuss my problems with a small group of girls that all have similar problems,” another attendee said. “It creates a safe space where I feel comfortable sharing my experiences to give advice to other girls.”