Rachel Bernstein, 11, was bored by it.

But even though they had different reactions to the working world they experienced April 25 during "Take Our Daughters to Work" day, neither had any doubt that they would someday excel in it. Amanda was considering becoming president of the United States, or maybe a UB professor. Rachel loves working with young children and was determined to become a teacher.

Celebrating and reinforcing the self-confidence of girls like Amanda and Rachel was the goal of UB's first university-wide "Take Our Daughters to Work" event. Organizers estimated at least 150 girls accompanied mothers, fathers, relatives, or family friends to work.

For the first time, UB also organized workshops and talks for the girls to introduce them to everything from careers in athletics to the possibilities of the World Wide Web.

The Ms. Foundation For Women established "Take Our Daughters To Work" in 1993 in response to research showing that adolescent girls often experience discrimination by teachers, a preoccupation with appearance, and falling self-esteem. The event is now held the fourth Thursday of every April.

At an assembly in the Student Union Thursday afternoon, Mollie McKeown, deputy to President Greiner, told the girls about the revolution in expectations and attitudes that had happened since her youth, when girls assumed they would stay home to raise families.

McKeown described her own experiences as proof that women can defy expectations and shape their own lives any way they want. A onetime housewife who volunteered on behalf of women's and children's issues, she ended up working for two state senators before coming to UB.

McKeown also told the girls they were lucky not to be judged by the prejudices she remembered, which held that smart girls couldn't be attractive or popular. When she was named high school valedictorian, she recalled, she burst into tears and told her mother, "Now I'll never get a date."

The adults who brought girls to work said they hoped the experience would provide inspiration and role models.

"It's very important to me to bring her here," said Rachel's mother, assistant admissions director Frances Bernstein. "I'm happy that she's able to observe women in the professions. When she observes them in positions of authority, I think that shows her her own possibilities."

Rachel liked meeting her mother's colleagues, and was looking forward to a workshop on computers. But she was disappointed that she had to spend her morning in a "very boring" staff meeting. It didn't take long for her to plan revenge. "I'm going to bring you to school on a day when we have social studies," she told her mother.