12th Annual Women of Impact Inspires Guests

12th Annual Women of Impact Inspires Guests

By Parvathy Nair '22

Thursday, October 22nd, marked Notre Dame’s 12th annual Women of Impact event. The event, normally held in person, celebrates and brings attention to the accomplishments of various remarkable women in our community and beyond. Although the event had to be live-streamed this year, it allowed more than 1,500 Notre Dame alumni, students, parents and friends from all over the world to tune in and watch the event from the comfort of their own homes. After a short introduction by Principal Riley, our student speakers gave a toast to this year’s honorees: astrophysicist Dr. Sandra Faber and author Fatima Farheen Mirza '09. 

Dr.Sandra Moore began her talk with a explanation of the role space and science played in her life as a young girl. Even as a child, she had a natural curiosity about the stars and the galaxies above her. As she grew and entered a career in astrophysics, she made incredible discoveries, contributed to the technological repairs of the Hubble Space Telescope, and co-authored the historic Faber-Jackson Relation. Dr. Moore ended her speech with inspiring words about the importance of cooperation and collaboration both in school and at work. 

Our next speaker, Fatima Farheen Mirza, graduated from Notre Dame in 2009. In high school, Fatima was an unmotivated and disinterested student. However, through the support and encouragement of her teachers at ND, Fatima began to regain sight of her childhood dreams of becoming a writer and began to believe in her abilities. In college, she finally put this dream into action by writing and publishing her first novel, A Place For Us. As she wrapped up her talk, Fatima reminded the audience of how important it iss to listen to our own inner voices, and not to the expectations that other people have for us. 

This year’s Women of Impact event was beautifully organized and executed the speakers’ words of advice and wisdom were incredibly inspiring to hear.