What It Means to Be a Female Role Model
By Gracie, a junior at MHS
Growing up as a female was kind of difficult for me. My biological mom was out of the picture from the time I was very little, and for six years, I was in foster care with foster mothers who did not set a very good example of what a mother was.
After that, I pushed away my grandmother who was the main mother figure I had. The closest female in my life was my sister who is only 10 months older than me. In school, I learned that girls are mean. They gossip, pull hair, and tease until all you want to do is cry and change everything about yourself. Even at church, it was difficult to make good relationships with other girls.
As I got older, I started finding my empowerment from the flaws of those around me. Maybe I could not find encouragement as to what I wanted to be when I looked at them, but I could always find something I didn’t want to become. I also started looking more to my grandmother for encouragement, and I started trusting her to be my example of a mother. Someday, when I have kids, I will have an example to look back on.
In seventh grade, I came to Milton Hershey School. I started building relationships with my female teachers and my housemothers. It was hard to come from cyber school where I never had to talk to anyone to a boarding school where I was constantly surrounded by 11 other girls. I was shy and I didn’t want anything to do with anyone.
It was the women at this school who helped me discover my potential and pushed me to talk to other people. It was the psychology staff who always reminded me to stay positive that kept me from giving up.
I think it’s important to find people you can look at not only as a good example, but also so you can find things you don’t want to become. Females are still pushed down a lot, and it’s really important for young girls to remember that no matter what, they are strong and can be whoever they want to be.
All they have to do is find someone to stand by them through everything and believe in themselves more than anything else.