Girlhood encapsulates the feeling girls experience when getting ready with other girls, the impulsive decision to cut your hair and making your best friend help you, doing your friend’s makeup for her, screaming at the top of your lungs to your favorite songs at a sleepover, or the long coffee-date debrief with your bestie. “Girlhood” is the internet term used to describe what it means to be a girl and partake in feel-good activities with other girls, but “Girls Club” is a club on Point Loma Nazarene University’s campus led by three women passionate about fostering community.
The club serves as a space where girls can come together, talk about their faith and meet other girls on campus.
Third-year graphic design major Faith Napier is one of the leaders of Girls Club this year.
“Girls Club started a few years ago with [PLNU alumni] McKayla Krolcyzck and Gracie Hinz who wanted to create a spot on campus for girls to come together,” said Napier. “It has been passed down a couple of times and has now made it to Sloane, Grace and me.”
Third-year psychology major, Grace Dilorenzo, is another leader of Girls Club who explained the overall routine of their 4:00 p.m. meetings that occur every other Friday.
“During our time together, we share a snack or meal, then someone shares a word of the Bible that has been placed on their heart, their story or a devotion. We then break into small groups with questions that coincide with what we discussed. We always make sure girls sit with at least two people they don’t know,” said Dilorenzo.
Sloane Young, a third-year environmental studies major, is also one of the leaders of Girls Club and has enjoyed the variety of girls that show up to the club, often bringing their friends with them too.
“There are freshmen through seniors who come to Girls Club and it is so special to see the different life experiences and realities that each girl is facing be addressed and tackled through a team of different aged women centered on Jesus,” Young said. “I met one of my best friends at Girls Club my freshman year and have now been leading it with her for the past year and a half.”
A part of Girls Club is the conversational aspect that leads to girls getting to know each other and sparking new friendships with new people.
“Because Girls Club allows us to get into conversations beyond what you might have on Caf Lane, really into the deeper, more raw life stuff, bonds between these girls are built fast,” said Young. “Relationships are created where the girls ask each other how they can be praying or supporting one another.”
According to Dilorenzo, Girls Club is all about making sure women at PLNU know that they are always welcome and can find a safe space among other women in the club.
“Our desire is to give everyone a place at the table, and have a space for Loma girls to feel like they belong,” Dilorenzo said. “We encourage the ladies who come to our bi-weekly meetings to invite their friends, or come alone and make new friends. Life in community is so important and makes such a difference in college.”
Napier added to this sentiment, expressing the desire to not only foster community through their club, but create one that lasts.
“The hope for Girls Club is to form a community at the start that then can flow onto campus and where girls can walk alongside each other in this fun time at Loma,” Napier said.
Girls Club will continue its legacy at PLNU by being passed on to younger girls to lead as Napier, Young and Dilorenzo prepare for graduation next year.
“It has been such an honor to be a part of this very special club, and I am truly humbled by its impact at Loma,” said Dilorenzo.
Young mentioned who they had in mind when they asked the new leaders to take over Girls Club and the qualities these new leaders possess.
“We had been thinking and praying about passing Girls Club to the next group of girls during fall semester of this year,” said Young. “The girls who came to mind were those who had participated in the ministry of Girls Club and who sewed into it. They are humble and kind leaders who are fully capable of propelling this ministry forward! We are so proud to know these girls.”
Every girl is welcome to join Girls Club. The club embodies unity — one where women can seek comfort and strength in walking alongside other women in their faith.
“We seek to provide a space where friendships are built and memories are created,” Dilorenzo said. “The foundation of the group is our faith, and our goal is to multiply the feeling of belonging by ensuring that everyone feels connected and cared for by the group as a whole and by each other.”
For more information on the club and its meetings, follow @faithmnapier @sloaneyoungg or @grace.dilorenzo on Instagram.
