Seeing is believing.
One of my favorite holiday movies is The Polar Express. I watched it many, many times when my children were younger and honestly, I still watch it every year at Christmas. In this magical adventure of the night before Christmas, the central character Chris, better known as Hero Boy, is on a quest to determine whether he still believes in Santa. Perhaps seeing Santa will help him believe.
While I admire Chris, the character I love best is the young girl Holley. Already on the train when Chris arrives, she welcomes him aboard to help him feel included. Throughout the adventure, Holley works to get her feet under herself by learning to take a few risks and by doing so, comes to believe in herself and believe in herself as a leader.
As I look at Holley, I see the promise of what we can become when take risks, try new things and experiment while gaining confidence along the way. As we build our skills and figure out how best to use them, we step more fully into our true selves. Of course, I can see my younger self in Holley – a girl embarking on her own grand adventure of life. When I watched the film years ago, I saw in Holley a young Condoleezza Rice – an extraordinary woman who went on to lead on the international stage as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State. Today in Holley, I see poet and emerging leader Amanda Gorman and I also see Amara, the young woman who attended my stem summer institute.
Who do you see?
Girls (and boys) need to see role models to envision their futures. What are you doing to be that role model? Think about it and then take action.
Remember, seeing is believing.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Photo credit PAX River Naval Air Museum