On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, Her Campus at West Chester University had its very first combined event with our university’s CHAARG chapter. From 7 pm to 9 pm, we enjoyed a night of celebrating girlhood with arts and crafts, learning about both organizations, and meeting new people. With about 100 girls in attendance from both clubs, we kicked off the night by learning what girlhood is all about!
Girlhood is a journey of self-discovery, identity, and power. Girlhood is where confidence is built, boundaries are tested, and resilience is learned. Girlhood is about creating a space where girls deserve to be seen, heard, and protected. It’s laughter, curiosity, sisterhood, and the lessons we learn that shape us. We learned that girlhood is how we are connected through many common interests and experiences, and the sense of community that we build together. The activities we took part in allowed us to celebrate our identities in many different ways.
There were 3 different arts and crafts stations that we got to participate in, and they each embodied celebrating different phases in our lives. The first station was writing a letter to our past selves, and that allowed us to reconnect with our past and see how far we’ve come. Personally, I wrote a letter to the version of myself in freshman year of high school, so this was a very healing activity for my inner child. The second station was making paper crowns to honor all of our present achievements and where we are at now. We embraced the fact that there was no achievement too small, and everyone had something to be proud of. I wrote on my crown that my current achievement is being able to graduate a year early by working hard and taking extra classes! The last station we had was making vision boards on construction paper with magazine cutouts. The vision boards allowed us to illustrate the future of girlhood and reflect on what we wish to achieve. We each got to pick out 6 pictures that had been cut out of magazines to glue onto construction paper. It was really cool to see everyone show off their creative skills and manifest what they want their lives to be like in the future. Through this we discovered that girlhood is a journey that stays with us far beyond our teenage years, it lasts forever.
A focus on girlhood helps to challenge harmful patterns and stereotypes that have been imposed on women and girls by society, such as rivalry, by fostering healthy female friendships and support networks. It also provides a foundation for future empowerment by fostering self-belief, empathy, and the ability to stand up for one’s rights and beliefs. Our girlhood night helped us to create new female friendships and support networks.
While we were at each station, we also got the opportunity to socialize and meet new people. This was so much fun, and I myself learned about what CHAARG is all about. CHAARG stands for Changing Health, Attitudes, and Actions to Recreate Girls. It is essentially a workout club for girls that also has to do with bonding, and altogether just a really fun way to get your body moving. They are all split into small groups, and they have weekly social activity meetings. As a big group, they have weekly workout sessions, either held at the university gym or sometimes they travel to different gyms!
Overall, the night was a really fun experience to teach each other about our clubs and bond with each other, all while celebrating girlhood! The atmosphere of the event was super inviting, and everyone was talking to new people. There wasn’t a moment when I felt left out or that I couldn’t join a conversation that was happening around me. We got to work on developing our social skills and build supportive relationships with our peers. It was really fun to have Her Campus collaborate with another organization, and I think everyone involved would say the same. I hope that more of these opportunities arise in the future, and I am excited to see who else we can collaborate with!