Last Friday night, the Women Today Club hosted an event that had speakers and activities about cervical cancer. This seminar was hosted in the McGarvey Commons, and was a formal event, due to the theme being based on the classic movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The event began with an introduction from the Club President, Reagan Campbell, who welcomed and thanked everyone for attending. After she  welcomed attendees, she invited everyone to have some food that was provided by the Behrend Catering Service. Once everyone had eaten their fill, the first speaker began her speech. Heather Adams is a physician's assistant and an assistant professor at Gannon University. During her speech Professor Adams spoke about how cervical cancer is the, “second cause of death in undeveloped countries, and the eleventh cause of death in developed countries”, Adams would also go on to talk about how new information that researchers have found, which has led to the development of very successful screening tests. She also made sure to talk about how cervical cancer is very unique, in the fact that  it is the only cancer that has a FDA approved Vaccine. This vaccine is a hugely successful due to how it can, “cover up to nine different strains” of the cancer.

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When Professor Adams concluded her speech, the Women Today Club had planned a “mingle session”, during this time the attendants were allowed to move around and discuss what they had just heard with other people and also with Adams herself. There was also a Planned Parenthood booth setup for attendees to visit at that time. They booths mission during the event was to collect signatures  that would go on a petition to help repeal a bill that recently had a ruling on birth control. This mingle session would last for about a half an hour until the Club President called everyone back to their seats for an activity. This activity was played on the popular app, Kahoot. This app allowed players to pick a nickname which would be seen on the main computer. Participants answered questions that were selected before the event. Players would then answer questions about both Professor Adams’ speech and also a couple of questions about the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s. After fifteen questions were answered, the top three players were awarded with a prize provided by the hosting club.

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After the activity had finished, the attendees were then greeted by another speaker. This time the speaker was a representative for Planned Parenthood named Paige Bosnyak. During the course of her speech she touched upon the many things that Planned Parenthood does for women in the local areas. Some of these services include providing birth control, and also providing the test for cervical cancer called PAP test.  She also talked about how across Pennsylvania there are a total of twenty-five clinics that are open, all of which provide these services. Towards that end of her speech, Miss Bosnyak showed the audience a video from a woman who was interviewed by Planned Parenthood. During the course of this interview, the women talked about how she was grateful for the care that the clinic was able to provide, and how without them she would have not been able to catch her Cervical Cancer so early.  After this video, Miss Bosnyak also provided statements from several other women; all of which gave similar statements about how they believe Planned Parenthood helped save their lives.

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Once Miss Bosnyak finished her presentation, the President of the Club once again took the podium. She went on to thank all of the speakers for coming and also thanked the audience for attending. Once she finished her speech, the audience was welcomed to help themselves to food again, and welcome to leave whenever they were ready.

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This is the second health awareness event that the Women Today club has hosted, with the first one being last year about Ovarian Cancer. The Club is hoping to have another event next year, about another disease that is affecting women everywhere. If you would be interested in joining the Club, or if you would like any information please see the Club President, Reagan Campbell, the Secretary, Caitlin Kent, or the Vice President Daleth Holley.