Often, I find myself reflecting on brave, intelligent, and inspirational women, my own personal attempt at inner strength and motivation. This has become something of a passion, an open curiosity entailing my deepest interests and explorations. Dianne Feinstein’s passing has only increased my persistent thoughts of these women who, against all odds, worked and breathed and lived their endeavors, simply feverish in serving others. It is an unselfish act to claim your words boldly and truly, a quality that I consider to be absolutely exhilarating. Dianne Feinstein embodies this. 

Dianne Feinstein’s accomplishments were not attained easily nor without hardships. She attended and graduated from Convent of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco, California, an extremely prestigious all-girls Catholic school and was the first Jewish student to graduate from the school. Feinstein’s education only increased in notoriety, graduating with a degree in History from Stanford University. Her prominent vocation for politics became evident in her Coro Foundation fellowship, an organization dedicated to creating leaders and provoking change. 

Dianne Feinstein was a trailblazer, through and through. She pioneered as San Francisco’s first female mayor, serving more than a decade and crafting a political basis for her beliefs and legislative creeds. Furthermore, she was California’s first woman elected to the United States Senate. This position gave her several opportunities to voice her strong opinions and speak against injustice. Her platform was used to champion civil rights, the environment, gun control, and national security overall. 

Feinstein’s endurance and resilience is evident in her perseverance through political elections. She ran for Governor in 1990 and lost that particular race, but following this, she ran for Senate and won. She forged a path in the looming forests of adversity, respecting processes and hunger for justice. She is often described, through her constituents and those who knew her, as honest, hardworking, strong, well spoken, and reassuring, all qualities carved in competent leaders.

Truly saddened by her passing, I observe these attributes with fondness, pondering the loss of leadership and an incredible human life. Her story lingers with me, through quiet dreams of worth and notability. As Mayfield students, our mission statement is frequently reviewed, a mantra, a prayer, a reminder of who and what we are, “Actions not words.” Feinstein is one of those groundbreaking, barrier-shattering women, who knew their goals and achieved them through hard work, compassion, sharpness, and honesty.