Dress For Success event gives CWU-Yakima students a confidence boost

A number of CWU-Yakima students now have some new threads to wear to the upcoming Education Career Fair, thanks to the collaboration of several CWU departments.

Eastside and Online Student Services Specialist Mandie Dolezal worked with CWU Career Services, the Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and CWU-Yakima colleague Viviana Campos to organize the Dress For Success event at CWU-Yakima.

The open house-style pop-up event, held February 10 and 12 in the CWU-Yakima office — co-located in the Deccio Building on the Yakima Valley College campus — provided about a dozen students with a wide assortment of professional clothing, including shirts, blouses, blazers, slacks, ties, shoes, and other accessories.

“We invited all of the CWU students in the Yakima Valley to fill out a survey and tell us what kinds of clothing they needed,” Dolezal said. “We were also able to provide some gender-neutral clothing, which a few of the survey respondents had requested.”

Dolezal came up with the idea of bringing a Dress For Success pop-up event to the Eastside centers last year when she heard a number of CWU-Yakima students saying they didn’t have professional clothing they could wear for student teaching or to interviews.

With the Education Career Fair coming up Thursday, March 13, in Ellensburg, Dolezal thought winter quarter would be the perfect time to put her idea into action.

“We had really good participation, and I’m hoping we can do something similar at the Wenatchee and Moses Lake centers as well,” she said.

Career Services Event Coordinator Kristen Paton and the Wildcat Pantry staff gathered and cleaned the donated clothing, while Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs Kurt Kirstein and administrative assistant Linda Huber organized four large tote boxes for Dolezal to pick up.

Brenda Juarez Pina, a student employee with Campus Activities, created a flyer and helped promote the event on social media. All Dolezal had to do was pick up the totes in Ellensburg and then set up the event in Yakima.

She also thanked Campos, a CWU-Yakima operations specialist, and Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) team members Arturo Santana and Kamila Rubio Buenrostro for helping her staff the two pop-up events.

“Viviana was able to talk to students about registering for spring quarter, and Arturo and Kamila provided financial aid and FASFA information to the attendees,” Dolezal said. “It was one of those rare opportunities to meet face to face with students since many CWU-Yakima students are currently taking classes online.”

One student told Dolezal that she wasn’t planning to attend the career fair because she didn’t have anything to wear, but Dress For Success changed her entire perspective.

“Now she has the confidence to attend,” Dolezal said. “It feels good that we were able to help her.”

Dolezal added that she is proud that she was able to help students find the apparel they need to make an impression during interviews, student-teaching, and at the career fair.

“That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I have been in their shoes before, and I know that just a little help can go a long way.”