I look up to you
Identifying role models on the path to adulthood
By Shevy Chaganti and Danielle Olson
May 30, 2008
Parents provide us with basic ideologies and principles, teachers give us knowledge about the past and present and friends let us break barriers and have fun. However, these are not the only important people who shape who we are. What about the ones we know who live their lives so extraordinarily that we want to grow up to be just like them?
According to school psychologist Kristina Crawford, the choice of whom one is influenced by may play a crucial role in his or her development.
‘A role model can be a parent or a teacher or even another student, a peer,’ Crawford said. “It kind of gives you something to strive to be. Obviously, it’s someone who you respect.’
Identifying a specific role model who possesses admirable traits to a young person can be the core of the adult they will eventually become.
‘I think everybody has a role model, whether they specifically identify that or not, because there’s always people, for whatever reason, that you look up to,’ Crawford said.
According to learningtheories.com, Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura found through his studies on social behavior that “Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action.’
Art teacher John Adams recently assigned a project in which students were asked to create an artistic representation of a person they knew personally and who influenced their lives significantly.
“Any time that we have to think about, identify and reevaluate who we are in terms of what we believe in [and] what we think about in terms of right and wrong, I think it’s really important for people of any age,” Adams said.
Though Adams said that this is important for all people, the teenage years are traditionally infamous for being the time when students “find themselves.” As such malleable human beings, the acceptance of outside influence is inevitable.
“[The project] makes them think about the way that other people have affected who they have become and who they will become,” Adams said. “I think it also makes them think about how they affect other people and how they have influence on other people.”
AP Psychology teacher Kathryn Roberts said she strongly agrees on the importance role models play in people’s lives.
“We certainly influence each other every day on a very high level even if it’s just silly things, like the clothes we wear,” Roberts said. “I think it’s important to have ideals and, not that you can idolize people but [rather] the things that they’re working towards, like being very courageous or a fighter … If you’re picking somebody because you think the way they live their life is something that you aspire to live, then it can be a very good, very influential thing.”
Keyana Collins, senior
Having witnessed her mother’s struggles in raising two children as a single mother, senior Keyana Collins said her mother is her role model.
“I did not have a father in my life,” Collins said. “She taught us never to depend on a man for anything. We must provide for ourselves. [She’s shown us how] to be strong and independent.”
Collins’ mother has worked ardently even in the most desperate situations to protect and provide for her and her sister.
“We have been homeless for two years,” Collins said. “And we just got a place for ourselves, something we can call our own. My mom lost her job so we’re trying the best we can. We haven’t had [any] help.”
Keyana said after witnessing what her mother has had to deal with because she did not attend college, she has chosen to attend college herself.
“She didn’t go to college, so I’m going to represent me and her,” Collins said. “My mother is very happy that I am going to college so I am going for her.”
Rayeisha Mesquita, sophomore
Sophomore Rayeisha Mesquita sees her mother as her role model because of her perseverance and meticulous nature.
“My mom is role model because she can do the most impossible things,” Mesquita said. “She never gives up.”
Rayeisha remembers growing up and bearing witness to her mother’s refusal to surrender in hardship, despite how much she had to work in order to accomplish this.
“When we lived in New York … I would never see my mom because she was always working,” Mesquita said. “I only saw her when she fed me. The government didn’t help us or anything. She put my sisters through college by working three jobs a day.”
Her grandmother left Jamaica for America when her mother was young in order to work to eventually bring the whole family to this country for a better life, and her mother continued this legacy of ambition. Admiring her mother’s steadfastness, Rayeisha said she sees a lot of that reliance in herself.
“My mom didn’t have her mom around because they lived in Jamaica, and she was working to get her family to America,” Mesquita said. “My mom knows she can count on me for anything.”
Shawn Harris, senior
Because of the genuine kindness she has shown toward his family throughout his life, senior Shawn Harris sees his godmother as his role model.
“My mom, she’s a single parent, and my godmother, Jennifer, she’s been there my entire life and has done a lot of things for me,” Harris said.
Ensuring that he and his siblings have their basic needs taken care of is among the many things Harris’ godmother does for him.
“What she does consistently is she buys things for us, she makes sure that we have clothes and shoes and things like that and that we always have a meal every night,” Harris said. “I consider her as my second mother.”
On top of providing for his family materially, Harris also appreciates the moral support she has provided in his life.
“She encourages me every day to continue school and make sure I get a good education,” Harris said. “She teaches me things that I don’t know, as far as being an adult [goes]. She’s very spontaneous. Hopefully, I want to take that on when I get older.”
Matthew Litton, junior
For as long as he can remember, Junior Matthew Litton said he’s wanted to be just like his father, who he said is so humble that he would deny being a good role model.
“My dad is definitely someone that puts himself last all the time,” Litton said. “He’s someone who’s not afraid of much. He’s very strong in his convictions. He’s not swayed easily. He’s not easily put off path.”
Litton says his father, a colonel in the US Air Force, is a great leader and he admires his ability to interact with other people.
“His favorite saying is this, he says, ‘Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell people what to do, and they’ll surprise you with their ingenuity,’” Litton said.
Propriety and strong morals are something Litton said his father has taught him through the way he conducts himself.
“He says the best thing you can do is to be known as a gentleman, and that’s what I have tried to do,” Litton said. “The golden rule is something that’s inherently practiced in our home and that’s very much expected. Anytime that I get off that path, he’ll put me back on but he does it in the most loving way possible.”
Kristy Kilgallen, junior
After seeing senior Maya Davis show up to a tea party last year wearing a tutu, junior Kristy Kilgallen knew immediately that they would be friends because of her courage and individuality in that choice. After getting to know Maya, Kilgallen realized how much she admired her.
“She’s a role model to me because she’s very unique and she doesn’t really care what other people think,” Kilgallen said.
Like Kristy, Maya is an artist who has set an example through her work that Kilgallen respects very much. The two have a ceramics class together.
“She’ll do things that nobody else would think to do,” Kilgallen said. “She’s willing to take a risk that our teacher might not like just because as an artist that’s what she feels is right to do.”
Other than her artistic abilities, Kilgallen also sees Maya as a role model in her lifestyle choices.
“She’s vegan, so that I can respect because it takes a lot of dedication and then she’s very socially aware,” Kilgallen said. “She’s not one of these people who have their heads in the sand about everything…so we’re on the same page with a lot of social issues.”
Kilgallen is currently working on a sculpture of Maya for her Art 3 class project.
To be a role model
As having a role model in one’s life can be significant in their development, so can acting as a role model to another peson. Students who know they are setting examples for people who look up to them often put more consideration into how they choose to behave and the decisions they make.
Sophomore Christina Iturbe has a 9-year-old sister who sees her as her role model.
“It’s a good feeling because you’re influencing someone else’s life, who will then influence someone else’s life positively, and it can be like a chain reaction,” Iturbe said.
Sophomore Jack Carlson, oldest of five children, said he finds himself monitoring his own behavior more closely when he is around his four siblings.
“I wouldn’t do anything that I wouldn’t want them to see at home,” Carlson said. “I use more appropriate language around the house than I would otherwise, like with my friends and stuff.”
However, Carlson said at times he feels stress and pressure caused by the expectations his parents have for him because he sets an example for his siblings.
“When you’re the oldest you get the most responsibility and the most privileges, but you do get blamed for everything,” Carlson said. “If anything goes wrong, then your parents come after you.”
Iturbe said she also feels this pressure as a role model but views it as more of a reason to be motivated to be a better person.
“I think it’s really good to learn responsibility at a young age,” Iturbe said. “When someone expects you to be the best that you can, it kind of drives you to be the best that you can.”
Issue 7- Chantilly through the ages
Issue 6 - When is the right time?
Issue 4 - Personal expressions
Issue 1 - Are backpacks weighing us down?