The Role of Role Models | StarTalk

[Music]
it’s often said that it’s easier to be
something if you can see if you could
imagine yourself in that position and so
role models have always played an
important role in that role models have
that role I have a slightly contrary and
view of role models where if you need
someone who looks exactly like you to do
something you want to do but no one has
done it before you then you would never
do anything new so for me in my life I
assembled my role models ala carte so I
found the scientist who had a total
command of cosmology in the universe and
I said I want to one day I want to be
that smart and I want to know that much
oh there was an educator who who taught
with such enthusiasm and humor and with
such a sense of caring I said if I’m in
it ever an educator that’s the kind of
educator I want to be and and my parents
they they they were active in the civil
rights movement and just their general
life’s concern for other people people
less fortunate than you are the concern
for Humanity I said if I ever want to
what kind of a person should I be I’d
like that
model alright so I pieced it all
together and I said this is this that’s
my role model this sort of frankenstein
assembly of parts and in that way if
there’s someone who struggled through
whatever bias or resistance that’s out
there you talk to them about their
struggles whether or not this struggle
happened to be in the field that you’re
interested in entering your struggles
have a way of manifesting similarly no
matter the field so so in terms of
gender parity in various fields that do
not yet show it I think if you want to
go someplace where others have never
been before
talk to people who have struggled
whether or not they’re in the field
you’re aiming for they will have stories
that you can use and tap in fully
exploit in the service of your ambitions
and don’t let the absence of someone who
looks just like you
be the reason why you don’t become what
you’ve always dreamt of being
[Music]