To an unnamed friend

I occasionally wish I could adopt one of my professors as my mother, or grandmother perhaps.

What an inspiration to me - Never before have a met someone so humble, so giving, so encouraging, and so full of hope, strength, and perseverance. If I grow up to be half, even a quarter of the woman she is, then I think I've achieved great things in my life. As a woman who has done immense things in global politics, who has changed the world's very way of thinking in many ways, she is both quiet, pensive, and humble. She gives me hope, and has taught me so much about life, about what to do in the midst of struggle, about standing up for what we believe in, about being a strong and respected woman in the face of a patriarchal system, about staying humble in the midst of fame, and about... hope in the face of great challenges.

I've gone through much of University, wondering what I've really learned, gaining all this head knowledge and wondering where the heart comes in. I think God has brought her into my life to show that there is hope.

We all need to look for heart knowledge. Learn to love, learn to persevere, learn to forgive, learn to have hope.