A moment undescribable...
Thursday, March 27, 2008
I stand only a few feet away. My heart is beating so fast it feels as if it might explode. I can barely hear the dull roar surrounding me. I feel the tears at the edge of my eyes, any moment spilling over. I feel my nerves ready to spring out of my skin at any second.
We move closer.
The feeling intensifies. I can barely breathe. I almost feel as if I am suffocating while trying to not cry tears of joy at this very moment. In a few moments, my life will change.
We move. It is time.
I approach. I lay down my book and picture for an autograph. She is here, mere inches from me. I have dreamt of this moment for so long that is seems to be ingrained in who I am. A dream that is so much a part of me that I forget when and where it began. I am meeting a person like no other. Every dream I hold coming back to her. In this moment, life stands still.
I look her in the eye. I tell her that I have idolized her research since I was 8. That she alone is and always has been the reason why I dream what I dream.
I feel the tears so close to spilling. I lean in and take a picture with the most influential science person in my world. I cannot believe that the one thing I have always wanted for longer than I can remember is happening. I feel as if I could fly.
Jane Goodall. For many, you will never understand the connection and absolute undying respect for this woman. You will never understand that so much of who I am is tied to this person I have never met. That she alone is everything.
I have met Jane Goodall, told her what she has meant to my life and had her sign my book that I have read a hundred times on chimpanzee behavior.
What does one say to another that has shaped and molded not only your life, but thousands, if not millions of others? I suppose all that comes to mind is 'thank you'.
She is an inspiration and I have dreamed of a day I could meet her. That day was today.
While she spoke tonight, she talked of the people that lead her to be who she was and what she did. She details those she admired most and those that supported her the most....her mother. This we have in common.
I sit and listen. She speaks of her role models, the people that supported her and encouraged her to go after what she wanted no matter what. She talks of those that shaped her future. While she explains those she admires and thanks the ones playing major roles on her long journey, I say those words back to her. Today, I have met my role model. The person that shaped my scientific career. The woman that showed me that lack of money, nor education, nor the female sex was something to hold you back from your dreams.
While she talked of those shaping her life, I was thinking of how she shaped mine. And when she talked of the one person in her life that she admired, respected and was the greatest influence on her life being her mother, I had to agree. This we have in common.
So here is to an amazing woman.....who came from nothing, worked toward her dreams no matter the obstacles and had an amazing mother to stand beside her.
Jane Goodall, my role model and example of a woman in science that I would be honored to follow.
posted by Sonya @ 3/27/2008 11:03:00 PM, ,
