Mary Jo Larson (Speaker)

Yes, I do agree with you Lisa that Mrs. Mary Jo Larson was such an amazing speaker. I thought that she was genius for approaching her topic by saying “Women tend to stray away from “power.”” It was shocking to hear her say such a thing but in reality, it is true. No one has ever gotten to the “top” of the economic ladder by not exhibiting some type of power. We as women need to discontinue the thought that aggression equals masculinity and the fact that society will categorize us as being evil. Showing aggression to accomplish a goal or task is not being seen as psycho but more as ambitious. When Mrs. Larson asked all of us to write down who we admired or who we thought were considered role models, I thought of two people. These two people are Oprah and my basketball coach in high school Coach Vicky Hayes. I said that these women are of course “powerful” but also “strong,” “understanding” and “emotionally involved.” Seeing these characteristics in them has inspired me to become the same way. I want to make a difference to someone’s life as they have done to mine. That is why I agree with you Lisa when you said, “leaders are never born but rather made.” Everyone learns by observing what someone else has done. One improves by taking the characteristics that they admire from someone else and upgrade those traits to better suit their needs. I hope that I will take some of the characteristics that my coach possesses and use them to help me succeed in the future as well.