Athena Day

There were many girls from different areas of Massachusetts like Cambridge, Dorchester, and Brighton that came to take part in Harvard’s Athena Day workshops. Breathe Cambridge was asked to host one of the many workshops that took place.

For the introduction we shared our names and explained to our group what Breathe Cambridge was all about. We broke the ice leading our group through a game we play often called the "I Am". Everybody forms circle and one person says something true to them and strikes a pose. If others in the group find was what said true about themselves they mimic the pose. We all had a lot of fun playing. It was an effective way to bring us together and start up conversations with our peers.

Our team led the group through our process of writing poetry in the "Breathe" poem templates. The template is set up with prompts to evoke ideas in the author while unifying topics of the poem. This is so the poems can be pieced together with other poems to make our audio installation piece. We worked in small groups building bonds and helping our peers gain a better understanding of the project. Once girls completed their poem we all listened to them read aloud and they went on to a quiet room to have their voices recorded reading their work.

I felt the workshop was a success because it was the first time our team of Breathe Teens really took the leading roles in running a workshop. We also got a chance to make new friends and build connections with other females in our area.

-Samentha