The American Experience

HST 110L WI

“History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.” Lord Action

As this year is coming quickly to a close I feel that it is important to reflect on my History class that I took this semester with Professor Tobin. This class challenged my previous view of American History up to this point and made me begin to think critically about how leadership played a major role in developing the nation into what it is today. The assignments that made me reflect the most on leadership styles and actions were our response papers. During class our professor would play a documentary about a famous leader of the United States that we had to write a quick 1-2 page paper about. We were allowed to pose our own questions, create our own theories, and thought about the leader that we saw on the screen. Each assignment a new challenge factor was added by Professor Tobin, such as find primary sources and academic articles to support our claims.

Each one of these mini assignments about great leaders like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Hitler led up to the biggest assignment of the semester….our final paper. We were given a short list of influential leaders to discuss and form our own topic about one of them. I personally picked Martin Luther King Jr. to write the 8-10 page paper about. Our only requirement was the length and to find two primary and four secondary sources from credible academic journals to support our argument. Other than that I was free to mold this paper into anything that I pleased….which was very scary to begin. After quite awhile of brainstorming I was able to come up with a question. What qualities did Martin Luther King Jr. possess that made him a great leader of the Civil Rights Movement? From here I created my thesis of: King’s vivid visions for change, ability to mobilize his followers, and boldness to tackle risks all served as his main attributes for success as a leader.

Through the many hours spent developing this paper (and the many more that will go into refining it) I have learned quite a bit about what I value as important qualities for a leader, most of which all involve the mindset and communication that a specific leader has. I found that leadership has nothing to do with a person’s stature, social status, or education but instead who that person truly is. I already knew this to some degree, but having to write multiple papers about real life instances with historical figures has expanded those thought exponentially. I hope that as I continue to break down barriers in the leadership world that I can someday have the strength to break through the ‘Glass Ceiling.’ that many have come to find as a great obstacle. All in all, I feel that I have something that I can actually take away from this class and apply to my life since all of the great leaders that we have covered exemplify different leadership qualities.

“When you develop yourself to the point where you believe in yourself so strongly that you know you can accomplish anything you put you mind to, your future will be unlimited.”

The One Who Will Break Through the Glass Ceiling ~McKenna Mathis

A True Inspiration

Malala Yousafzai

Who is Malala? Better yet, I should ask who is Gul Makai? The answer is simple since they are the same person, but the story behind the two names is anything short of simple.

I came across Malala Yousafzai’s story quite awhile back and have used her as a role model ever since. It 1997 Malala was born in Mingora, Pakistan and grew up in the rather peaceful town, that is until the Taliban came. Shortly there after the Taliban started targeting and attacking schools full of little girls to restrict woman’s right for education. Hundreds of schools were burned down or closed due to the Tabliban, therefore she attended the school that her father founded. As Malala lived through the brutality of the Taliban’s actions she decided to start secretly blogging under the fake name of Gul Makai about growing up in a threatening world that denied her education. Soon there after Malala revealed herself and the Taliban promptly made her an enemy target. Athough Malala was fearful and concerned for her family’s safety she continued to go to school and was proud to be a women’s right activist at age nine. On an average day the school bus that Malala was riding was stopped and a Taliban soldier fired three bullets in the attempt to kill the 15 year old. The bullet fired at her in pointblank range miraculously traveled down through her neck instead of her head, saving her life for the time being. She fought through infection and now rehabilitation in order to continue to pursue her education and dream of becoming a doctor.

Malala’s leadership began so young, and she became such a leader because she intensely followed her passion of women’s rights and education. At the age of nine it was easy for Malala to see that the treatment that her gender was receiving was dehumanizing and wrong. It seems like such a natural right for women to be educated for many people, including myself. People who know of her story and hear her words cannot but help become an advocate for the young woman’s cause. I admire so many things about Malala’s leadership, especially her bravery, persistence and genuine personality. Against all odds Malala continued to fight for what she believed was right and never gave in. She is more than willing to lay down her life in order to change the world one school at a time. For me, I see Malala as a true inspiration. A girl almost precisely  one year younger than me has had an ever lasting impact on the world around her. Seeing how much she has accomplished and continues to accomplish makes me realize that I, as a leader, can continually make an impact if I pour my effort into it. Malala not only advocated for women’s rights and educations, but also shows me and her other followers that no matter what age, gender, ethnicity or background a person comes from, they ALWAYS have something to offer to the world.

I aspire to be like Malala. She lives life fearlessly, with a great purpose. Every speech she gives and every award she receives in nothing in comparison to message that she carries. I hope that one day I can be an influence to not only the people around me, but the many people to come after me. I hope that one day starts today.

“There was a time when women activist asked men to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do it ourselves.”  ~Malala Yousafzai

~A Malala follower,  McKenna Mathis