Olympic Role Models: Amanda Cyril

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Shivangi Gupta, Staff Writer

“People describe me as someone who’s pretty nice, outgoing, and shy at times. I’m also a very opinionated person, so I may come off as judgmental at times. If I could choose one word to describe me, it would be authentic. I am my own person and I don’t try to copy other people, but I do have two role models, Shawn Johnson and Jonny Kim. As a previous Olympic athlete, Shawn was put under pressure, but she still managed to cope with all the stress and snide comments. Her ability to do that while she was a gymnast and afterwards resonates within me as a person. Jonny Kim is a Navy Seal, a doctor, and an astronaut. I look up to him because he’s multifaceted. People nowadays are so fixed at being good at one thing that they forget to expand their hobbies to explore their hobbies. The fact that he’s so good at so many things is admirable. For example, for college, students get told to choose a major from an early point in our life, and I feel like that hinders people’s ability to explore who they are as a person. I’m going into biology or computer science, but within biology itself, there are so many different options. I could possibly switch out of biology or take a gap year before I go to med school. Right now, I’m thinking of minoring in art history, but if I really like it, then I’ll end up majoring in it. I like being able to adapt to whatever situation I have, and I strive to not be close-minded. I believe that if you are, you’re not able to grow or learn, and then you become a person that no one can approach. I want to be someone that can influence others’ thinking while also changing my own point of view. The reason that I want to be a doctor is to help others since even the smallest things can make a big change. I don’t want to be famous and in the limelight but entering the medical field is also very stressful, analogous to a celebrity’s life. That’s probably why I look up to celebrities in the sense that they’re able to cope with a lot of struggles and still remain happy.”