With my 2 year post grad anniversary soon approaching and dually coming to terms with the fact that I won’t be returning to campus with a plethora of crazy stories about the year and a half I spent in the real world 'acting' like an adult, I devoted an entire week to seeking out inspiration from the women who have continued to shape my creative aspirations from afar - women like Shonda Rhimes, Oprah, J. K. Rowling, Mindy Kaling (well mine and just about every other twenty something female). 

Emma Watson for Burberry.  Shop Burberry for the holidays here.

However, upon sifting through my various YouTube inspiration channels, one key flaw came to my attention.  While these women are, in fact, movers and shakers of their time, they are also all over the age of 35 and have spent far more years working toward their success than I have at this stage in my life.  And while their wise words have most certainly provided a solid foundation for lifetime achievement, the whole actually getting started thing, has kind of been put on the back burner due to the allure of the Emmy/NY Times Best Seller endgame.    

So how, then, in this age of innovation do we rationalize old advice with a new and relevant twist?  How do we take this knowledge and wisdom from the many women that have preceded us and begin to evolve our own stories for the generation of women to come?

Perhaps it's not that these predecessors had the courage to alter the trajectory of history, but rather had the foresight to react to it.

Perhaps the answer lies less so in continuing to look ahead, planning diligently, blinding ourselves to distraction and more so in balancing these forward glimpses with equally as important views left and right.  These defining moments, though perhaps viewed currently as glimpses of evanescent millennial triumph, will inevitably reroute the ways in which culture continues to transform and evolve. 

Below are three speeches I pulled from this year, alone.  Speeches by women all under the age of 35 who have pushed our thinking on the concepts of gender, sexuality, and beauty respectively—proving to women everywhere that age is an arbitrary parameter for success and more importantly for change.

Gender Equality

Emma Watson at the #HeForShe Campaign 2014

'It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.' - Emma Watson

Sexual Equality

Ellen Page at the HRCF's Time to Thrive Conference

'Love the beauty of it, the joy of it, and, yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and receive as a human being.' - Ellen Page

Race Equality

Lupita Nyong'o Essence Acceptance Speech

'What actually sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful, is compassion for yourself and for those around you.  That kind of beauty inflames the heart and enchants the soul.' - Lupita Nyong’o

So in short, perhaps it's not that these predecessors had the courage to necessarily alter the trajectory of history, but rather they had the foresight to react to it.  To give voice to moments that would have otherwise been left empty, unchartered, and unchallenged.  And just as Shonda Rhimes, Oprah, J. K.  Rowling, and Mindy Kahling will most certainly remain on my dream wall for years to come, so to will the Emma Watsons, the Ellen Pages, and the Lupita Nyong’os for their unquestionable contributions to history as it lives and breathes today. 

Amina is a Chicago-based blogger/writer who works as an advertising strategist in her free time. She graduated from Amherst College in May of 2013 with a degree in American Studies and is still very much in the process of decoding the post grad life on a daily basis. If you like what you’ve read on bSmart Guide, feel free to check out more of her work on her personal blog Yours Exceptionally or for post grad advice on the go, follow her on Twitter @Amina_Taylor.