In light of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Her Campus Lasell found it necessary to highlight the woman that has impacted our lives or who we see making a difference for their community for this week (and every day). In this Empowering Woman Series, we have chosen to interview students, friends, family, and professors about what they do and what it’s like being bada** empowering women.
On behalf of International Women’s Day, Her Campus Lasell has decided to have the main focus for this week’s articles on who we see as empowering women. I am fortunate to say I have many empowering women in my life. They all rock in their own way and inspire me in a variety of ways. However, someone very particular to me is my home town best friend Braley Hall. Now, I may be a little bit biased with her being my best friend and all, but after reading this you’ll totally understand how amazing she is and why.
Braley has a fun upbeat personality and you can catch her laughing 99% of the time. If you ever need to take a drive and blast some country music, she’s your girl. Or if you ever need a spontaneous movie night, target run, dance session that’s her. However, life hasn’t always been easy for her. Do you know how they say the kindest hearts get hurt the hardest? This is exactly that, but these events don’t define Braley because they only made her stronger. During her freshman year of high-school Braley and her family found out her mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. The experience was very traumatic and frightening. However, her mom kicked cancers a** and is doing well to this day. Then senior year rolled around and her dad got very sick and was diagnosed with nonsmall cell lung cancer. He, unfortunately, is no longer with us, but always will be in spirit and in hawk form. Now no one should have to go through a loss of a parent that young. However, this didn’t stop her. She graduated from Hall-Dale High School in 2018. Although, she didn’t follow the forced societal norm of going to college. She decided it wasn’t for her at the time and wanted to take a gap year to figure out her life. During this time she was offered a temporary job which has now become her full-time job. She works at MK Orthodontics in Augusta, ME.
When asked about what she is most passionate about she expressed this “Honestly I’m obsessed with life and everything it has to offer, I’ve been put through the wringer, to say the least, and I don’t know I’ve just finally started to fall in love with life again. I’m obsessed with making others happy and I would change that for the world”. See what I mean people? How much more ray of sunshine and warm-hearted can you get than that? Braley always goes above and beyond for others in any matter.
To tie back into how I said she’s been through a lot and Braley herself saying she’s been put through the wringer. “What I reflect on the most is never forgetting to tell people you love them because you never know when the last time could be the last time. Learning to live life with a smile and doing great things in the world. I would honestly say for advice it’s okay to be selfish during this time if you’re a selfless person. It’s hard but it helps. Don’t let it debilitate you even if it’s the worst thing to have ever happened to you. Don’t lose sight of yourself and it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to break down. It’s okay to take a day where you don’t do anything but cry and sleep. It’s never going to be easy and it’s always going to hurt but you will slowly but surely become more accepting of it”.
We then discussed her job and what she does at MK Orthodontics. During her time there thus far, she makes retainers, indirect tray slaying, appliance tracking, and anything else that is asked of her. As her friend, I already knew she loved her job, but I was curious as to what her favorite part of it all was. “My favorite part about my job is giving people the biggest confidence boosts of their lives. Being able to see a smile from start to finish is amazing and I’m obsessed with teeth now because of it. Nothing makes me happier than a day at work with my coworkers and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.”
Now that’s what I call: an Empowering Women.