A Girl on the Rise
-Yana Giannoutsos, 14 years old
The importance of female leadership in our society is significant. Living in the world today we are fortunate for the positive progression towards women taking leadership positions both in and outside of the workplace. We have been able to prove to the rest of the world the immense capabilities of a woman when given the opportunity to teach, lead, and to inspire. However, in today's society, where we are consistently inundated with negativity, shameful comments, and toxicity both on and offline, raising each other up and uniting in spite of this hatred has become all the more crucial. In a world of negativity, we must empower our next female generation with goodness, kindness, and acceptance, so that not only can we rise into the leadership positions we belong in, but that we might be able to unite as a world of powerful women. This is attainable if we live our lives with a positive, uplifting mindset both in school, online, and within our larger communities.
In high school, an atmosphere of competition, jealousy, and division can often be observed within the female population. Groups and cliques surround the lunchroom, and there are numerous girls who dread this aspect of toxicity. This status quo is unfortunate; a school full of females with great potential, yet somehow unable to empower each other. To overcome this, we must learn the value of every individual, and not only value each other’s differences, but embrace them and embrace our own. In a world of millions of people, we each are immensely different, and all have something to offer. Every girl wants the very same thing in life - to be the best version of themselves. Beginning with school life, if everyone just recognized each other’s value; if everyone just took a second to ask if the girl at the side of the lunchroom had someone to sit with, we would be more united, and the atmosphere would quickly change. We must keep in mind that we are all women, we all want our world to change for the better, and we are all part of the next generation of females - we have to work together in order for our world to fit the mold we want it to. By recognizing that every single female has value and purpose, including ourselves, is how we will be able to achieve this, and the beginning of this movement must start with our very own self-reflection.
ABOUT ME: I am 14 years old. I attend Wilton High School. I love to spend time with my family and friends, spend time outdoors, and run.