What makes a role model?

The world we live in today is filled with people that young kids and even adults consider to be role models in their lives. There’s a role model for everything from sports, academics, and all the way to the way you live your life. When you ask people who they look up to or who their role model is you’ll usually hear a name of a celebrity, an athlete, or family members. But you usually only hear one name. According to Naveed Fayyaz of Dawn.com says, “We need multiple role models for different aspects of life. Therefore, we need to have more than one role model so that we can pick up one aspect or good thing from one and have another good thing to admire and aspire for in another role model.”

In my life, I have about three to five role models for different aspects of my life. This keeps me from trying to be exactly like someone in every aspect of my life. This varies the different lifestyles I see and keeps me from changing who I am to be like someone else and be the version of myself that I want to be. I also try to keep at least one or two role models that I’ve either met or people that live in my community. This helps you have a role model you already have something in common with. Such as, I look up to Marcus Labonde, a senior basketball player at FMHS, because he’s helped me bring my game to a whole new level while playing with him.

When thinking about role models, you need to consider what they do that inspires you and make them a person in a place that you would possibly want to be in a few years, and make sure you know what they’ve overcome and other events that shaped their life that you’re going through or have gone through. I look up to University of West Virginia point guard Jordan McCabe because of the style of basketball he plays. But I don’t only look up to him; I also look up to Tim Tebow because of the man he is off the field. He never judges anyone based on their past and always sees the good in the people he meets, and he always speaks positivity to the people he speaks to whether it’s a speech in front of thousands of people or if it’s only a small group or even one person.

When people are looking at role models is that you have a couple that live in your own household. People overlook their family as role models, but they’re our insight into what it takes to provide and care for a family while at the same time keeping a job. You’re parents are your direct link to what life is like after high school; it is the same with grandparents, aunts, and uncles who can along with parents give you insight into what it takes to be a successful adult and self-reliable individual. With this I always talk to my parents about what life skills I need to develop that will help me in my future; my grandparents, aunts, and uncles also help with these questions.

Lastly, look up to someone who was from the town you live in or from the state you’re from. These “local heroes” help you because you have someone from a similar area who is doing something that your striving to do in your life. Look at people such as a police officer, fire fighter, upperclassmen in a sport that you look up to, or an athlete who was from your area.  I look to Chauncey Billups, who is one of the greatest NBA point guards of all time that looks to be a no doubt hall of famer from Denver, Colorado. I’ve looked up to Billups because he was never a very flashy player that got the job done and then some. 

Role models are people that seem almost vital to life because of the way they inspire and motivate us. This also means we need to carefully pick our role models from similarities we share with them. Role models that affect every part of our life and having a role model for different parts of life make us look how different people do the same things and teach us to live life how we want to with motivation from others. When looking for a role model in your life, ask yourself, “What do these people do that will bring positives to my life.”