When we are young, we want to emulate or even become our favorite super heroes. Some of us want to be Batman, Superman, or Goku. We would re-enact our favorite moves from them, when we play pretend, we were always them, and even on Halloween, we dressed up as them. Some of us outgrew the childhood innocence to wanting to be them and some of us (as adults) still want to be them. I fall in the latter.
I am a huge nerd. Outside of work, my martial arts training, and my time at the gym, I greatly enjoy playing video games, watching anime/American Cartoons, and reading manga. Even as a young girl, I watched Sailor Moon right before getting on the bus for school and play copious amounts of Pokemon. And like every little kid who played pretend, I played as my favorite super hero: Sailor Jupiter! Sailor Jupiter was everything I wanted to be when I grew up: strong and pretty. I liked that she was a tomboy and she uses her strength to help those in need. My vision of her as a strong woman still remained when I saw the rebooted version of the Sailor Moon series. But not only she was still so strong and still so pretty, she was also kind, sweet, and vulnerable to her emotions. She was everything I want to be as a person. She’s still my absolute favorite but there is one character that hold in the highest regard and to this day, I still want to emulate her.
I was introduced to video games at around 4th grade. I played a lot fighting games and Japanese RPGs. My imagination as a child and playing pretend slowly got weened off but in return, I was introduced to more fantasy like worlds and fighting monsters and evil doers in the name of justice and peace! Playing video games, in a sense, made me feel like I AM the character I currently played as. I was the one that was going on exciting adventures, I was the one rescuing people from certain doom, I was the one with the great super powers….or at least it was I who was controlling the character making those actions. It was fun, exciting, and in a way, felt like I was a part of the story. One character caught my attention and ever since then, I wanted to be her and emulate her in my life because she, like Sailor Jupiter, was everything I wanted to be as an adult and the fact that she and I bear strikingly similar appearances. Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII is my greatest inspiration and role model.
She was everything I wanted to be for the rest of my life: She was pretty, she knew how to take care of herself, when others were in trouble she would be there to help them, she would do anything for the people she loves, she was sassy, she was kind, and most importantly: she was a woman that knew how to fight and fights for what she believes in…with her fists. I was so enamored and so happy that there was this character, especially during my awkward phases that lasted from middle school til the age of 21, that was almost just like me. She was a tomboy, I was a tomboy. She trained in Martial Arts, I’m training in Martial Arts. She and I almost looked just like each other. Just everything about her, I was so so so happy that she came into my life and she was someone, despite being fictional, that I can look up to and become.
It is these two characters of my childhood and current state that inspires me to be a modern-day warrior. They are strong women with great physical strength and fighting spirit but with vulnerability and kindness and compassion for others that makes me want to be that kind of warrior in my waking life.
