10 – 12 years
The actress I like best
The actress I like best is Emma Watson. She is an English actress and model. She was born on April 15, 1990 in Paris. As we all know, Emma Watson played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies. I am sure that we all know this character made her famous but there are some more interesting things to know about Emma playing Hermione.
J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter series imagines Hermione as a nerdy girl who wasn’t really pretty but when she met Emma she noticed how perfectly the role of Hermione fit her and gave her the role of our beloved bookworm in Harry Potter. Some of her other films are ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Circle’, ‘Little Women’, ‘Noah’ and ‘The Colony’.
Emma Watson is respected for her fight for women’s rights. In 2014 she founded the UN Women’s campaign HeForShe. Since then she is also an UN ambassador for girls and women’s rights.
Although I love her acting, I appreciate her as an activist. She fights hate with love, makes people laugh and uses her fame to do something good for our world. This is why I choose her as my best actress.
Safiyyah Rameez (11 years)
Highline Int. School
13 – 15 years
A famous woman I admire and why
Every woman has the right to stand equal to men as courageous and daring competitors, no matter the race, religion, colour or illness or disability. Many fearless females have challenged there never-ending obstacles. One such beautiful soul that I admire greatly who motivated other women through her remarkable goals was the famous African American sprinter, Wilma Rudolph.
Born in 1940 in Tennessee, to a big family, Wilma Glodean Rudolph began life as an average kid. Yet at the young age of four, she went through a life-threatening struggle. Having had pneumonia and scarlet fever that weakened her, she then contracted polio, a disease that affects the central nervous system. Wilma’s health forced her to wear braces to support her legs. Doctors said the she would never walk again but her mother told her she would. Rudolph believed her, and she continued to improve and at the age of six she began hopping on one leg. By eight she could move around with the braces. She even stunned doctors by removing them and walking by herself. At the age of 11, her mother found her playing basketball outside. Wilma thus became a natural athlete through the efforts of her family and her own determination.
While mastering sports at college, she rose as a national runner, qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Australia and returning with a bronze medal. Her story tells of her spic journey to the Olympics and how she succeeded throughout.
The Olympic Games were but a far-off dream for any African American woman but Wilma never gave up which resulted in her becoming a world record holding gold medalist, Olympic champion and international sports icon following successes in the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games.
She opened and helped run sports clinics and served as a consultant for university track teams. She also wrote the autobiography ‘Wilma’ in 1977 which I believe proved a great inspiration to many, including myself, who are ambitious. She overcame her physical disabilities becoming the fastest runner worldwide in 1960 through honesty, hard work and a heroic willpower.
Her admirable legacy will live always through her deeds, achievements and personal words. My favourite of Wilma Rudolph’s quotes is, “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: the potential for greatness lives within each of us.”
Priscilla Rambukkange (14 years)
Hillwood College, Kandy
