MARYSVILLE – Even today, young girls face challenges boys don’t when thinking about careers.

That is why the Marysville Soroptimist Club put on a “Dream It, Be It” Career Support for girls event Saturday at the YMCA.

Sixteen girls from local middle and high schools attended.

The event wasn’t so much to help the girls pick a career as it was to set goals and believe you can achieve them.

“Being empowered,” said Alex Leavitt, a junior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. She was told she “could do anything I wanted.” She wants to be a cosmetologist now, but growing up she liked toys for boys better. But when her mom bought her some makeup stuff for a birthday, she was hooked. Now she puts makeup on all her friends. She’s thinking about taking courses at Everett Community College.

“I love it,” she said. “I hope to do something with that someday.”

Victoria Wilde, an eighth-grader at Post Middle School in Arlington, said she wants to be a pediatrician or work with Doctors Without Borders.

She said she was inspired by the speakers who encouraged the girls to challenge themselves. “Push yourself to do what you want,” Victoria said.

She added that the speakers talked about being bullied, not having enough to eat, and “hearing the voices telling you that you couldn’t do it. But they were able to ask for help, get it,” gain confidence and eventually succeed, Victoria said.

Adda Garza, an eight-grader at 10th Street Middle School, said she also wants to go into the medical field. She liked as part of the event that they made a Dream Board to help remind them of their goals.

Lynn Monson, who facilitated the event, said that all of the speakers talked about “following your dream. There are so many jobs out there – find your passion. Do what you love to do – not just for the money.”

They all also encouraged the girls to not be afraid to seek help. “Being told they are not a career girl” only made them stronger, Monson said of the speakers.

Kathy Wilde, Victoria’s mom, who has taught JROTC in the Marysville School District since 2012, talked about things she had to overcome being a woman in the Navy for 22 years starting in the 1980s. She told them JROTC is not about convincing kids to join the military. It’s about responsibility, making them employable so they can “succeed no matter where they go.”

Wilde also told them about her involvement with Soroptimists, teaching them that community service leads to a “light of giving.” She said with her JROTC students, she has seen their hours of community service go up “give back and find something positive.” Wilde told the girls the only thing holding them back is themselves.

“Our biggest bullies are ourselves,” she said.

Sabrina Johnson of Cocoon House agreed.

“It’s our inner mean girl,” telling ourselves we can’t do it because we’re not smart enough or it’s not what others expect of us, she said. “We have to change that thinking,” Johnson added.

She may have been the most-inspirational speaker of all for the girls, as she admitted she was a “horrible” high school student. “It was stupid,” Johnson said.

But after working in bars for 20 years, she decided she needed a change. “I hated it. I was exhausted. There was no happiness,” she said. She volunteered at Big Brothers-Big Sisters, and with Monson’s encouragement, “I found my passion.”

Johnson added, “You can always change your mind. Passions change.”