Four Inspiring Women to Help You Get Through Finals

As you return from Thanksgiving break and gear up for the end of the semester, you’re probably in need of some inspiration. We can relate. So we thought we’d share four powerful women with you who are strong role models for girls and young women—one for each stage of the end game.

Week One: Margaret Hamilton

Are you staring at a pile of crumpled papers wondering how you can possibly get organized in time for finals? Margaret Hamilton, the software engineer whose work made the Apollo 11 moon landing possible, is your inspiration. Much of Hamilton’s work revolved around foreseeing potential problems that could occur during Apollo 11’s landing and solving them preemptively. In an interview with Time Magazine, Hamilton described the Universal Systems Language, which she designed and used to created the software for Apollo 11, as being “like preventative healthcare, but it’s preventative software.” So think of this week as preventative organization, which will prevent the next two weeks from being so chaotic. That’s one small step towards organizing your study materials, but one giant leap towards a successful finals week.

Week Two: Shaunae Miller

The week before finals often feels like a sprint to the finish. Think you can’t make it there? Just check out this clip of 22-year-old Shaunae Miller diving over the finish line to win the gold. Keep your eyes on the prize, and even if it seems impossible, remember that you can make it there. Finals week may leave you exhausted but take some advice from Miller: “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for; I just gave it my all. I have cuts and bruises, a few burns – but, hey, I got a medal out of it.” This is the final stretch, the end of the race, and you can make history by getting an A in history!

Week Three: Beyoncé

Here it is, finals week. Beyoncé is a woman you can look to for inspiration on keeping cool under pressure and getting the job done. Have you heard of power posing as a way to gain confidence? Try our version and pose like Beyoncé in the picture to the right! Then drop knowledge on your final exams with the cool and confidence of Beyoncé dropping a secret visual album that sold over a million copies in its first week. And if you haven’t listened to that album already, be sure to check out Lemonade for some feminist power anthems during your next study break.

Week Four: Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama is your inspiration for after finals week. Michelle is pretty much done with her responsibilities as FLOTUS, and she is killing it. During her time as First Lady, Michelle Obama dedicated her time to furthering movements for girls’ education and female empowerment (among other things). Despite major accomplishments in this area, including her Let Girls Learn initiative and hosting the United State of Women conference, Michelle has made it clear that she is “just getting started”. So be like Michelle: celebrate your successes, move past anything you could have done better, and look forward to what’s ahead (lots of sleep and Netflix, probably).

Featured image here.