role models- reflection #3

For my final post, I have decided to grace the Internet with an inspiring list of my top three role models (not in any order.) I have chosen to exclude family members, although they are certainly role models in many ways.

1. Hillary Clinton
Although I'm not sure that I agree with her politics 100%, I deeply admire and respect the current Secretary of State. In retrospect, I think it was very telling that I chose to "be" Hillary Clinton for our third-grade wax museum. Although I knew nothing about her at the time, I think that little 8 year old me respected the fact that a woman had made such a name for herself in the male-dominated arena of politics. Clinton has successfully managed to create an identity unique of her husband's, and has proved to be an adept Secretary of State; subtle yet powerful. The Obama Administration's foreign policy has been one of its high points in my opinion, and I think that Hillary Clinton has played a vital role in that. Her intellect and drive are qualities I wish to emulate.

2. Dr. Paul Farmer
As one of the co-founders of Partners in Health, Dr. Paul Farmer has worked in some of the poorest parts of Haiti, Cuba, and the Soviet Union to address these countries' broken health care systems. I first read about Dr. Farmer in Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains. From then on, I was captivated by his passion for providing health care to the world's poorest, as well as his critically honest relationship with the medical community. I have since read (or at least attempted to read) some of Farmer's books that he's written himself, like The Pathology of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. Dr. Farmer believes that it's a combiniation of cultural and economic factors that contribute to the dire state of many health care systems in developing countries, and he hopes to make this known to the medical community and beyond. Reading about his work has inspired me to pursue global public health as a possible major, and to focus whatever career I choose on changing the institutions that oppress the world's poor.

3. Lady Gaga
I love Lady Gaga. I, like almost everyone else in the world, thought she was crazy and strange until I watched her interview on 60 Minutes. I have since realized that she is a genius- she uses her bizarre public persona to distract from her private life, and in doing so is able to experiment with what she calls "the sociology of fame." Beyond that, I think that her music and her activism are very inspiring, and I'm glad that she uses her celebrity to bring attention to people who may feel alienated in our society. Her album, Born This Way, is also outstanding. Haters keep hating but I love Gaga.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ7BQuoRmbs&feature=relmfu