This post is going to be all about my role models and those who inspire me to be the better version of myself. If this sounds familiar it’s probably because you’ve already read about this before. In grade 9 we did a similar assignment, check it out! Because your teen years are when you change the most, obviously my role models are very different three years down the line. 

My mission statement:

“To make a positive and significant impact in the world by using innovation to disrupt the systems that aren’t willing to learn and grow with the ever changing world.”

What’s a mission statement? A mission statement is essentially a statement that aligns with someone’s values and purpose. Companies most of the time have mission statements, but often individuals do as well to help align life goals. Below is a list of write ups about each of my role models that help drive my personal mission statement. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg should really be at the top of everyone’s list. She has made incredible advances in gender equality and never let the many obstacles she overcame become an excuse. She is not ambitious for herself but for her cause. In her younger adult years she got married, soon after she went to law school. Becoming the one woman in a sea of men trying to finish top of their class with a law degree. During this journey she took care of her children, battled cancer and put up with the many sexist people she met along the way. Because she was not only a woman but also a  jewish mother she was stripped of many positions to work at a law firm. She never missed a day of work. As soon as she put her children to bed she would work until the early morning. She also juggled taking care of her sick husband and not too long ago she broke three ribs (at the age of 85) and continued to work! She never for one moment blamed her circumstances on a lack of quality work. Everything she ever went through was only fuel to her fire to make the world a better place. She understands her value and how she can make a difference in society. It’s her legacy.

Gloria Steinem

Her natural writing ability, leadership, strength and attitude allowed her to defy the standards for women her age. As a journalist Gloria Steinem had many successful articles, one of her more famous ones being “A Bunny’s Tale”. This article was groundbreaking, it discussed inequality, sexual harassment and the lives of the bunny’s. At its core the article is truly about Steinem’s belief that the sexual revolution will fail if men are the only ones allowed to define it. The world was taken back by the article and the jaw dropping statements it made, but as Gloria puts it… 

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off”

So what did this change? How was it a beacon of hope for women all over the world? This article sparked a change in how playboys ran their business, after it was released Hugh Hefner was scrutinized. Although this was great news to the Bunnies working there, that wasn’t the success. It was really that, for the first time a woman was able to challenge a man in power such as Hugh Hefner. Gloria proved to the world what they thought a woman wasn’t capable of.

Stephen Hawking

I admire Stephen Hawking for his daringness to live passionately and with ambition. Stephen spent the majority of his life waiting to die from a rare disease. But unlike many would think, this didn’t stop him from living each day to the fullest. With his ambition he never stopped imagining a world where people used common ground instead of reasons to argue and separate each other. He saw the world in a different way. A combination of this and his quench for knowledge led him to live a full life of unravelling the secrets of the cosmos. Stephen has taught many to live life even with the unfortunate circumstances the universe shoots in your direction. If light can escape a black hole, what’s stopping you from being the best version of yourself?

Wonder Woman

She is both the woman we want to be and the woman we know we can never become. Wonder Woman has always been somebody I look up too. She always stuck to her values no matter the situation. She never let anybody take her power away or tell her what to do. If there was a problem she dealt with it with grace, patience and fearlessness. She breaks the mold of what being feminine is supposed to look like by striving to help others in her own fearless way.

Hermione Granger

Hermione shows young girls the importance of knowledge and having the courage too speak up. Her character was never afraid to raise her hand and ask questions regardless of the relentless torment she got from others about her curiosity. She is proof of how learning and asking questions can spark a life long capability of learning. Her knowledge is the reason she was able to save so many lives and fearlessly stand up for her friends and family in the hit movie series “Harry Potter”.

Each of the individuals you just read about whether fictional or non-fictional have helped me chase my ambitions. All of them have set standards for women’s equality or have helped make a change for the better in this world. Because of their relentlessness to stick to their values, constant fearlessness, thirst for knowledge and ability to disrupt systems they inspire me everyday. Each one of them align with my personal mission statements. Every decision of mine that’s been made has been driven by what they would do. Saying this, I present to you my masterpiece…

The task was originally to create a table with each individual around it. But I thought it would be fitting to put them in a car, ‘driving me towards my mission statement’. I used  Superimpose X to put it together! Overall, this assignment was enjoyable. It was interesting to compare my old post with this one and see how much my goals have changed.