My default pastime during lock down has been worrying about my professional future. Leaving my positive outcome bias aside, I constantly wonder what would happen if a series of sudden bad decisions led everything to go wrong. This fear was amplified by the lack of female role models that showed me how to go down the road I want to walk. But all of that changed when I knew about Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Jacinda has been on the news a lot lately for her incredibly effective and gracious response to coronavirus. But I had heard her name many times before: when at 37, she became the youngest-ever leader of her country; and when she gave birth while in office, among others. All very news-worthy facts. There was one thing, however, that got ingrained in my brain: that she holds a Bachelor's in Communications and Public Relations.
The above-mentioned fact is probably meaningless to a lot of people, but it means the world to me and here is why: I got my B.A. in International Relations and my Master's in Public Relations and Corporate Communications. Not long ago, one question started haunting me: is this career choice going to keep me from becoming the powerful woman I have always wanted to be? Because of her I now know that is not the case.
The above mentioned question was the result of years of conditioning: society and my own experience led me to think that in order to lead, you needed a degree in careers such as Economics and Public Policy. And while that is certainly valid, it is not the only way. Communications is, afterall, a means in the Fourth Estate that media constitutes. I happen to believe that, nowadays, it is more important than ever, since 2020 unveiled our impending need to understand, to connect and to achieve reconciliation. And that is not possible without communications.
In another hand, us women have been told that, in order to succeed, we need to be strong, to be serious and to leave emotion behind. But empathy is important and it often tends to be relegated by women who achieve higher and harder positions. I don't judge them and, as a matter of fact, I understand them. Still, for a long time, I secretly wished to see women, the likes of Princess Diana or Michelle Obama, in a powerful office doing what they do best: getting close to people.
I would like to change the world. Yes, that requires to be in charge of tough decisions, but I want to do that fairly and kindly. I would like to lead, but I cannot fathom my future without a family and especially, without kids. If I, and many more women in my generation will achieve this balance or any other, is to be seen. But I am optimistic and cases like Jacinda's help give a foundation to that hope.
To conclude, I just wanted to highlight how important it is for us women to have role models: with other backgrounds, from other cultures, but women we admire in the end. Because in days when it gets hard, it helps to know someone struggled just like you, but managed to do it regardless. Like a light in an otherwise dark tunnel.
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