“Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” On Saturday, January 20, this chant could be heard throughout Grant Park as 300,000 people took to the streets of Chicago to promote voter registration. Power to the Polls was the message behind 2018’s women’s march.

The Women’s March 2017, originally organized by a group of motivated women, happened the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration. Its goal was to show Trump that women all over the world have power. A year later, women are still marching. “The march in D.C last year was so cool,” sophomore Lauren Raushenberger said. “It was amazing to see all of the women together with all of their signs, and after last year, I definitely knew I wanted to go back,” This year, women from all over the world marched to encourage others to run for government positions.

The Women’s March 2018 not only advocated for voter registration but strove to bring awareness to sexual assault and the #metoo movement. This popular hashtag started a worldwide movement that works to encourage women to report sexual assault incidents and show women that they are not alone in their experience. According to metoomvt.com “17,700,00 women have reported these incidents since 1998.”

On January 7, at the Golden Globes, Oprah Winfrey gave a motivating speech. “Speaking the truth is the most powerful tool we all have,” Winfrey said. “I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women.” Winfrey not only empowered many women to stand up for themselves, but she motivated them to support others–and to march just two weeks later.

“Keeping up to date on all the issues have been really important to me.” senior kindergarten teacher Dana O’Brien said. “I hate hearing that women didn’t vote and that their lives were affected by that decision. So knowing that this year’s theme was March to the Polls made me think that we all needed to get out there and show that women need to vote to be heard,” said O’brien.

O’Brien, who said O’Brien said that not only should women be running for office, but at the most basic level, they should all be voting, attended last year’s march out of anger and dismay, but decided to return because of the amount of support she felt. “Last year it was a reaction over anger towards Trump,” she said, “and this year was more about knowing that last year was so great,” she said.

Freshman and Youth Activism Art Movement Club co-leader, Grace Conrad attended both the 2017 march in DC and the 2018 march in Chicago. “I loved the sense of community it forms.” Conrad said, “It is a never-ending amount of people that support each other and let each other express their feelings.” “Conrad said that her experiences and the energy surrounding the two marches were different. “The march in D.C. was almost a breakthrough moment for me,” she said, “It was right after the inauguration, so there was so much more anger. I felt more changed after last year’s march than this year’s.” Conrad said.

Is marching once a year going to change anything? In a lot of people’s minds, the answer is no, but O’Brien feels that it is very important to keep these dialogue going. Beyond her classroom, O’Brien and her husband started a weekend improv group that focuses on providing a safe space for young women. Kidprov Chicago, runs at Chase Park in the Ravenswood area. “We are trying to motivate girls to feel more comfortable saying what they want to say and being stronger presences in their lives,” O’Brien said. “It is striking to me how different it is when the girls and boys come into my classes. Seeing those gender roles still in place is just shocking to me.”

O’Brien, who has a freshman son, said that he was the focus for her this time.“The one thing that was super important to me was that my son, Spencer, went with me this year,” she said, “I wanted him to see it, feel it, and be part of all of the energy.”

Freshman Griffin Kass believes that it is really important for men to be involved in the women’s rights movement. “It’s important as a man myself to support the movement and to show up at the marches because it shouldn’t just be women marching.” Kass said. “There should be men marching in solidarity too.” Kass noted that his favorite 2018 sign was “real men respect women.”

Two marches have passed, but what’s next? Women from all over the world are working together to create more platforms to help motivate others. The Women’s March organizers have created Youth Platforms to inspire young girls to stand up for what is right–and women of the world are heading to the polls for the midterms.