Saturday, May 19, 2007

This girl is freaking awesome.

She's 18, and she just summited Everest. She's now climbed the seven summits - the highest peak on every continent.

Take a couple minutes to check out the rest of her website. There's a bunch of news stories going around on her right now, but I think her website says it all the best. And yeah, she's also an all-state oboe player. And a dancer. And a great writer!

I simultaneously feel extraordinarily boring and lazy, and like maybe I should put "climb ONE of the seven summits" back on my life list.

Seriously, though: goddamn. Everyone should go read about this girl; the more I read, the more incredible this is! What a great role model for kids, women, men, ANYone!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but I can't help but see the privilege here. I agree those are impressive accomplishments, but I doubt that she is a from an economically disadvantaged background. Something about jetting off to distant locations with daddy reminds me of my spoiled students...

btw- I love your blog!

Elli said...

oh, certainly, the privilege isn't lost on me either. But how many privileged girls use (absent) daddy's credit card for new clothes, fancy parties, or liquor-soaked spring break trips to mexico? With people today determined to look to those with money as role models, how come nobody ever sees Samantha Larson instead of Paris Hilton? There's plenty to admire about her besides the money that gets her to these places.

It's true that this would NEVER happen if they (Samantha and her family) did not have some substantial economical advantage. But hey, it's not their fault they have money. At least they're doing something cool with it!

I also seem to remember that they were involved in a climb-for-charity sort of setup, but I can't find the reference for it.

Anonymous said...

That's a good point, Elli. I hadn't really thought about it that way. I had also just been reading Rate Your Students!

Elli said...

oh my GOD - I hadn't seen that blog before. It's amazing. And here I thought I'd get work done today...