Plano resident Maggie Holman, a student at Vines High School was the winner of the prestigious 2009 Words of Women International Essay contest.
Her essay, entitled The Most Influential Woman in My Life, certainly impressed the 2009 juror, Swedish-American Annastina Wikell who herself was the recipient of this award in 2003. Ms Wikell, now in her 70's and living in Maui, is the oldest winning Words of Women essayist, and Maggie is the youngest at 16.
Maggie was honored at the 7th annual International Women's Day Celebration on Sunday March 15, at The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future at Fair Park in Dallas. The Museum, which is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, has partnered with Words of Women for the past seven years in producing the lively and dynamic International Women's Day Celebration. The event was created primarily to honor the Words of Women essay winner every year.
The ambitious Words of Women International History Project and Essay Contest was created in 2000 to chronicle the events important to women for the next 100-1000 years and to ensure that the story of women is actually told in the words of women.
Maggie's essay will be posted on line at the Words of Women website and archived in the Women's Collection in the Library at Texas Woman's University. Maggie received a cash prize and read her essay to a packed auditorium which included her parents, grandparents, her minister and the minister's husband, as well as dozens of Girl Scouts.
Christine Jarosz, director of the Women's Herstory Initiative, Words of Women, said, Maggie is an outstanding student, Girl Scout, a writer with a beautiful style and she has a lot to say and a lot to contribute! Maggie will continue to influence others as she joins the Words of Women family of writers who come from around the world, London, Maui, Istanbul, New York City, Richardson, Garland, Lewisville and Dallas who use their words and their lives to make a difference.
'The Most Influential Woman in My Life'
by Maggie Holman, Vines High School, 10th Grade
I look at her and I see the triumphs and the terrors of decades. With every wrinkle comes a thousand stories of the past. Her smile is the hope for the future and her fears based on a life lived through depression, war, and hope. My grandmother is not just a person I go to for hugs and home cooking, she is a symbol of the triumphant mother, teacher, and friend. With every cookie and glass of milk comes a story about what life was like when simplicity was treasured and technology was scarce. I learned from her the joys of family, a farm, and a good life.
Most predominant are her tales of the Great Depression in which she always begins with how hard life was, but in the end sharing how her family made it through everything, and were simply grateful for what they did have, not lingering on what they lacked. My grandmother will tell of times when all there was to eat was turnip greens, cornbread, and tomato based products. She then will give me an impish smile and say “I still can't eat turnip greens or tomato soup”. Sure I may laugh it off at first, but next time when I am having dinner, I look at my plate and realize not only all she went through, but how lucky I am.
I also admire my mother's mother because of her ultimate multi-tasking skills. She managed to teach home economics to teenagers, work in the community, raise two very busy kids, and still be home at night to cook a homemade meal. In the sixties, or even today, it seems that the hardworking housewives of the world are being overlooked so often. We focus on women who are the first in their respective job field, and who show men that a woman can not only do a man's job, but do it better. Even though these are impressive accomplishments, let’s not forget the housewives that hold everything up. Doesn't even the richest and most successful man in the world simply want food and a clean house when he comes home?
My grandmother was part of this group of overlooked, hardworking citizens. I am amazed at all she did and how easy she made it look. When going gets tough many people, man or woman, will give up, but she never did. Even to this day when my grandfather had to have some very scary surgery, she didn't crawl into a hole and let everyone take care of her. Though it was hard and terrifying, she went on with life and helped my grandfather get well. For simply this perseverance, the very theme of her entire life, my grandmother deserves so much more than what society gives her. I love her with all of my heart and she is truly a role model in my life.
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