Role Model | Teen Ink

Role Model

March 27, 2011
By AliceDean GOLD, Skopje, Other
AliceDean GOLD, Skopje, Other
11 articles 10 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
The happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;One of the things that distinguishes man from the other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When that desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human.&#039; &mdash; C.S. Lewis<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Wit beyond measure is man&#039;s greatest treasure.&#039; &mdash; Rowena Ravenclaw<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Every story has an end, but in life every end is just a new beginning.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really Great make you feel that you, too, can become great.&rsquo; &mdash; Mark Twain<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools talk because they have to say something.&rsquo; &mdash; Plato<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;I am only one, but I still am one. I cannot do everything, but I still can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.&rsquo; &mdash; Edward Everett Hale<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;You are no bigger than the things that annoy you.&rsquo; &mdash; Jerry Bundsen<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &lsquo;Cats are smarter than dogs. You can&rsquo;t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow.&rsquo; &mdash; Jeff Valdez<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What gets us into trouble is not what we don&#039;t know. It&#039;s what we know for sure that just ain&#039;t so.&#039; &mdash; Mark Twain<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.&#039; &mdash; Benjamin Franklin<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What is essential is invisible to the eye.&#039; &mdash; Antoine de Saint-Exup&eacute;ry in &quot;The Little Prince&quot;<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;If you&#039;re holding out for universal popularity, you&#039;ll be waiting a long time.&#039; &mdash; Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I have balls of yarn.&#039; - Monika Spancheska<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Well, it [the news] changes every day, you see.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You can&#039;t give a Dementor the old one-two!&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And they&#039;d [the Death Eaters] love to have me. We&#039;d be best pals if they didn&#039;t keep trying to do me in.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;There&#039;s no need to call me sir Professor.&#039; - Harry Potter<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;A Study of Hogwarts Prefects and Their Later Careers... That sounds fascinating...&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I want to fix that in my memory forever. Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret...&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Because that&#039;s what Hermione does. When in doubt, go to the library. - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Can I have a look at Uranus, too, Lavender?&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;...from now on, I don&#039;t care if my tea leaves spell &#039;die, Ron, die,&#039; I&#039;m chucking them in the bin where they belong.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Percy wouldn&#039;t recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby&#039;s tea cozy.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And what in the name of Merlin&rsquo;s most baggy Y Fronts was that about?&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Well, I don&#039;t know how to break this to you, but I think they might have noticed we broke into Gringotts.&#039; - Ron Weasley<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Just because you&#039;ve got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn&#039;t mean we all have.&#039; - Hermione Granger<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Grawp&#039;s about sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine trees, and knows me as Hermy.&#039; - Hermione Granger<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I do love knitting patterns.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;And now Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I would assume that you were going to offer me refreshment, but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Time is making fools of us again.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;It&rsquo;s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally the whole school knows.&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?&#039; - Albus Dumbledore<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Of course, any time the family produced someone halfway decent they were disowned.- Sirius Black<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure.&#039; - Severus Snape<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Ah, of course. There is no need to tell me any more, Ms. Granger. Which one of you will be dying this year?&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;Really, what has got into you all today? Not that it matters, but that&#039;s the first time my transformation&#039;s not got applause from a class&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;We teachers are rather good at magic, you know.&#039; - Minerva McGonagall<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I wouldn&#039;t go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.&#039; - Lily Evans<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts...but you cannot deny he&#039;s got style...&#039; - Phineas Nigellus<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;I&#039;ll join you when hell freezes over.&#039; - Neville Longbotom


Letters. Words. Sentences. Paragraphs. Chapters. Books. A different world, separate story. I can be whoever I want to be. I can be a ghost, a San Francisco homicide detective, a mouse, a teenage supermodel. I can transform myself and explore an unknown world for a few hours. This is the reason why I find comfort in reading. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by the way writers make a whole alternate universe blossom from their words. One such author that has inspired me is J.K. Rowling. Furthermore, many reasons have led me to consider her my role model.

One of these reasons is the inspiration she is for many women. When Rowling published her first Harry Potter novel, she was a single mother trying to support her family. She proved that she did not need a man to survive; she did it on her own. Rowling and countless other women show society every day that women are just as capable as men. Although women are almost equal with men in North America and Western Europe, many countries consist of chiefly patriarchal societies where men rule. There women cannot have the honor to consider themselves even nearly as important as men. Rowling shows everyone that a woman does not need to have good looks or a beautiful voice to become successful and an inspiration to others. I feel a special connection with this: my mother worked on promoting women’s rights for almost ten years. She conducted numerous seminars, and even spoke at an United Nations assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. Moreover, Rowling, being such an inspiration for women all over the world, reminds me of my mother, and this makes that special connection personal.

Another reason why I admire Rowling so much is how involved in philanthropy she is. She has donated millions of pounds to various charities, such as Comic Relief. However, most of her donations have been made to organizations that are trying to find a cure for multiple sclerosis (Rowling lost her mother to this disease). I know what it feels like to know there is nothing medicine can do to save your loved one. A cousin of mine was diagnosed with this illness a few years ago. Her parents are doctors, and I remember how hopeless they feel, since there is no known method of treatment. No one knows what causes this ailment, or how to treat it. Only through research can these mysteries be solved. Alas, research is costly. Therefore, I am thankful Rowling donated some of her money to helping scientists develop and test new drugs—maybe it will save my cousin.

Perhaps the most important reason why I look up to Rowling is how she helped me appreciate reading. Her well-formed, amusing characters and intricate detailing developed my imagination. She gave me the willingness and hope to believe. At the end of eighth grade, I felt miserable because I knew that my parents could not afford a private high school and I had to enroll in a public one. Nevertheless, when I heard about the scholarship at NOVA, I immediately applied. Even though many of my classmates told me I would never get it, that my chances were very slim, I still believed. For that is what I learned from Rowling: always believe. And I got the scholarship. Believing does not make me a gullible and susceptible person; it makes me have a positive outlook on the world and life in general.

Rowling has been my role model for various reasons. She definitely had an impact on me and my life. If she had not influenced and inspired me so much, I probably would have been a completely different person. I find shelter, solace in her work, but also a friend. A friend that I know well by now. And with some degree of certainty I can say that I will probably keep coming back to Rowling for years to come.

The author's comments:
Just my answer to the question, "Who is your role model and why?"

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