An inspiration. What is it you may ask? Well, to me an inspiration is something or someone you can look up to. An inspiration is someone who is worth a thousand words. An inspiration is someone who is a great role model for others. An inspiration is someone who has achieved a great number of goals. My list could go on and on, but what I am trying to get at is how Maya Angelou is my inspiration. She has achieved worldwide fame as a poet, author, actress, historian, civil rights activist, producer and director. She has published ten best selling books and numerous magazine articles, winning both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominations. Maya Angelou has also survived many hardships. She remembers the good times and the bad and writes about them both. Maya Angelou's sad life experiences inspired her to write works of poetry about herself. And today she is one of the most acclaimed female black authors in history. Maya Angelou is the true definition of an inspiration to me.

Maya Angelou is considered to be one of the most talented people alive. She has made a difference in so many people's lives. Her personal outreach for women, especially in Africa, has helped change the live of the less privileged. She gives her heart and soul to those in need. Maya Angelou is also a very talented and gifted woman. She has had great success in professions as an author, actress, poet, historian, civil rights activist, producer and director. She lectures throughout the U.S. and abroad. Maya Angelou also happens to be believed to be a great leader by many people. In the 1960's, at the request of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she became the northern coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She was appointed by President Gerald Ford to the Bicentennial Commission, and by President Jimmy Carter to the National Commission on the Observance on the International Year of the Woman. "Maya Angelou has been proven to be a `caged bird' that was set free by the arts and poetry." And she is, in fact, the ideal "phenomenal" woman.

Maya Angelou is my inspiration because she is such a strong and great woman who has made such an impact on many people's lives. She is the kind of woman a young girl like me could look up to. She never gives up in what she believes in. She is a woman of great strength and ambition. She strives to do her best in whatever it is she needs to accomplish. She has had tremendous success in many of her professions. I can't see how one woman can be so multi talented as she is. I never knew that there was such a woman like her that could live on earth. She is a woman who has achieved many great things in life and proven that it is possible for an African-American woman to do so. It is no wonder why many people look up to her as I do.

As you can see, Maya Angelou is in fact an extraordinary and unique lady. She gives her all to those who are in need. These are the qualities I look for in an inspiration. It is also the reason of why I chose Maya Angelou as my inspiration. I believe that she is a great role model and I hope that one day, I too will become as successful as she is. Maya Angelou has inspired me to aim high and try to achieve the goals I have set for myself. She has inspired me to believe in myself and to use all the confidence I have while doing so. She is a great woman and I admire her for that.