By Hannah Kuhn-Gale, Essayist from the book She's Out There! The Next Generation of Presidential Candidates.
I'm almost 10 years old and was 7 when I submitted my essay to She's Out There! I am really excited to be one of the girls/women in this anthology. It's cool that this book exists, because it could inspire a girl to run for President or other leadership positions. There should be equal representation of women and men, because they each bring different experiences and perspectives to government.
Since writing this essay, a lot has happened in the world. Hillary Clinton made a run for President, which was fun to follow in the news. I had really hoped she would win, but I also think Barack Obama is a great President. Another one of my role models is Nancy Pelosi. I think it is really cool that she is the first woman to be Speaker of the House, which makes her 3rd in line for the presidency.
As for me personally, I am thankful to Title IX for making it possible for girls to be more involved in sports. I have played softball the last couple seasons, and this year our team placed 2nd at the end-of-season tournament.
I will be starting 5th grade in the fall and cannot wait to continue my involvement with the Gifted and Talented Program and to find more books to read. I love to read, because I like to picture myself as a character doing the other things the characters in a book are doing. It opens up my imagination and creates wonderful dreams! I have read J.K. Rowling's books many times over and love the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling was a single mother who worked hard to take care of her family while also believing in her books. I think she made the world richer through her writing.
I was also recently featured in The New Moon Girls magazine May/June issue, "25 Beautiful Girls." It focused on being beautiful on the inside. My mom nominated and wrote about me, and I was excited to be picked as one of the 25 girls.
A year or so ago I entered a story I wrote, "Aleyna and the Pet Dragon," in a contest by a local theatre troup. It was selected with about 20 other stories to be performed over several weekends. And, towards the last part of my 4th grade year, I was selected as one of the students to be involved with the TV news crew at my school. Every day a different group filmed the news, which was presented via television to the each classroom. I was able to learn how to run the cameras, write scripts, and be in front of the camera. Just before school ended we went to the local school district TV station. We had to write and interview someone and present that in front of the camera. It was later played on the local school district TV channel for people in Northern Colorado.
Finally, I am thinking about my future. I have a lot of ideas about what I might like to become when I grow up. I like the idea of being a photographer for children's books, working security at an airport, becoming a pediatrician, or maybe a veterinarian. I am also thinking about ways to create an organization or work with one to help girls know they can be whatever they want to be, including President! I think it is absolutely terrible that a woman has not been president, but I am confident there will be one in my lifetime!
She's Out There! (LifeTime Media) is available at B&N.com, Amazon.com and Indiebooks.com.
