A role model is someone who inspires you to emulate aspects of their character or behavior. They are someone who has achieved something impressive in the face of adversity. They don’t have to be a rock star or a world leader. They don’t have to change the world, just you! Here, in alphabetical order, are three women that everyone should know. All have left an indelible mark for us all to remember them by.
Hawa Abdi
Born on May 17, 1947, in Mogadishu, Somalia, Hawa lost her mother at the age of 12 and took over the family chores. She attended local elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools. A scholarship from the Women’s Committee of the Soviet Union enabled Hawa to attend university at an institution in Kiev. She went on to become Somalia’s first female gynecologist. Today, the Dr Hawa Abdi Foundation exists to provide food, education, and health care to refugees fleeing the violence of Somalia’s civil war.
Marie Curie
Born in Poland on November 7, 1867, Marie Curie grew up to become one of the most famous scientists of her time. She, her husband (Pierre), and French physicist Henri Becquerel won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903 for their discovery of radioactivity. This discovery did not take place in a sparkling, white laboratory. It was the result of months of hard physical labor in freezing, wet conditions, shoveling and refining tons of dingy ore to produce a tiny green glow in an evaporating dish.
Dian Fossey
How many of us dream of having a job that requires us to study monkeys all day? Dian Fossey lived the dream. After studying gorillas in their native environment in Rwanda for 18 years, she was one of the foremost primatologists in the world. Murdered in her bedroom at the age of 53 on December 27, 1985, she was buried next to Digit, her favorite gorilla, killed by poachers.
Here at Patti's Pearls, we've also seen many wonderful surviving and thriving women who are definitely role models!