This past week I was perusing potential summer internships when I ran across a question on an application that caused quite a lengthy pause: “Who is your hero?”
A list of plausible options swarmed into my head: Meryl Streep, Hillary Clinton and Sadie, my dog, to name a few. But have they ever directly inspired me for the better?
Yes, Meryl Streep has taught me you can never be nominated for enough awards or age more gracefully. (Side note: Leo, I’m putting my vote in for her to be the commencement speaker for the Class of 2015.) If anything, Hillary has taught me you can rebound from your spouse’s impeachment and large shadow to have great hair and pantsuits and potentially lead the free world in four years. Finally, Sadie has taught me if you whine enough, you will get what you want.
As you can see, I’ve learned a lot from my “heroes,” but I don’t think any of these answers would provide me with a job, let alone an internship. The point is, I’m not a fictional character who has a Sirius Black or Mufasa to inspire me to eternal greatness for the entirety of my life.
The word “hero” is loaded, to say the least. It has a lot of connotations behind it, implying a person has done extraordinary good or some kind of activism, something I can’t even begin to grasp when I know what this application is looking for is some grandiose answer like a Kennedy, Roosevelt or King (Billie Jean or Martin Luther).
I definitely have had people inspire me, but I can’t say with confidence that one person has inspired me for my entire 21 years. I’ve changed a lot in those years, and depending on where I am in my life, one person’s advice may or may not be the best to emulate.
Does the fact that I have not had one consistent role model throughout my life make me extremely self-centered? Possibly. I’ve never been the most empathetic or selfless person, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being largely self-motivated.
Now that I think of it, is there anything wrong with saying I’m my own hero? Would they see it as self-righteous or bold? I can certainly justify that no one affected my life enough to deserve the title of “Jonathan Black’s Hero.”
When I’m in a crisis I don’t think to myself, “How would Barack Obama handle this if he were in my shoes?” Obama has never been in my shoes and has a team of trusted advisers to help with his crises. I have a team of college students who are equally as unequipped to deal with the real world as I am.
Ignoring the existential crisis this question has caused me to have, what is there to take away from this? Is there a greater meaning I’m missing?
I think the moral of the story is I am not going to apply for this internship.