Who is your role model? Dictionary.com describes a role model as “a person whose behavior, example or success is or can be emulated by others.” Role models could be personal or based on things like looks, fashion or even money.

I asked several people who their role models are, expecting to see a big gap between celebrities and personal answers, but I came back shocked. The answers were pretty much even, but leaning more towards personal with a ratio of 7:8. 

“I chose [a celebrity] because he worked so hard to become something others doubted he could be, and his drive to always be better makes me want to work as hard as he does,” Maria Gorgievski (10) said.

When we gravitate to choose celebrities/ fictional characters, it’s likely due to their looks, fashion and/or superior-type hierarchy. Although, celebrities aren’t the only people that we can idolize as a role model.  

“She’s always there for me, and she always knows what the right thing to do is in hard situations,” Jessica Buckley (10) said.

When we tend to choose personal people in our lives it’s likely because of experiences, stories and our relationships built with them. Within the differences of peoples’ role models lies their differences in character, life events and how they view everything along the way.