Emma Watson

Emma Watson in a photoshoot for People Tree (http://www.ecouterre.com/ (People Tree))

Emma Watson is a young actress and model, born on April 15, 1990, in Paris, France, who has gone from a little girl acting in school plays to one of the most well-known names of our generation. She's 22 years old, and lives in Oxfordshire, England with her parents and brother, though she's often traveling for roles in movies. Ever since she was six years old she has wanted to be an actress, and three years later she was cast as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films after studying hard at a part-time theater school, Stagecoach Theater Arts. Since her debut in 2001, she has been in all eight Harry Potter movies, a BBC film named Ballet Shoes, voiced the part of Princess Pea in A Tale of Despereaux, played a smaller part in My Week With Marilyn, was cast as the lead in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and has also been cast in two musicals, Noah and Beauty and the Beast. She also modelled for Burberry and Lancome. Although her acting career is incredibly successful in itself, she's made a name for herself outside of being just another celebrity.

I believe Emma's largest project was called "Love From Emma" for People Tree. People Tree is a fashion line that supports fair trade and environmentally friendly, as well as sustainable, fabrics and clothing. The company also works to help the lives, living conditions, and land of the farmers and craftspeople that make the products they sell. She released a line with this company, and when she was asked to explain her involvement, she said that it seemed like a great way to publicize the advantages of fair trade and helping people through new, creative ways, which, in this case, is fashion. Her collaborative fashion line with Alberta Ferretti also made completely from organic, sustainable materials had the same idea, and a portion of the profits from that, too, was donated to People Tree. Although this was a cause that she put a lot of effort into, it certainly wasn't the only cause she's worked hard for.

A painting of Emma Watson by Mark Demsteader. (www.demsteader.com (Mark Demsteader))

Emma strongly supports children's rights, and often asks her fans to donate to charity instead of sending her gifts, as many fans like to do. On her official website, she has a link to UNICEF, which she asks people to donate to. Three years ago, Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint, the three leads of Harry Potter, were in an advertisement for BBC's Children in Need program. This organization gives money to poor and/or somehow disadvantaged children in the UK, hoping to improve the safety, happiness, and chance of success for thousands of children. Before her 21st birthday, she also requested to buy paintings from Mark Demsteader, who instead offered to paint several pieces with Emma as the subject of his works. These 34 paintings were then sold in public auctions, 10% of the proceeds of each painting going to CAMFED International. This company's goal is to improve the lives of two million children by 2013, but they also battle poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa through educating young woman and encouraging them to become leaders for the changes that they want and need to see in their country. Emma Watson is a very well known public figure, which means that these acts not only support these individual charities, but also encourages people to take action for themselves.

Watson has also dedicated time to other mismatched charities. A week after the devastating Hurricane Sandy, she volunteered to help deliver meals food to elderly in the Manhattan area with the charity Citymeals-on-Wheels. She has also donated more of her clothing designs to a couple of charities. The first being WTT, or Wild Trout Trust, which is an organization that works to maintain and safeguard the environment of wild trout in Britain and Ireland. The second is Blue Peter's organization, Mission Nutrition, whose goal is to help children grow, and, of course, eat better, healthier foods. She also donated artwork to auction for this charity. These may be smaller causes, but despite Emma's busy schedule, she sees the importance in them all, dedicating her time and money to these charities and more.

Emma Watson is my role model. From childhood she's been working hard to live her dreams, and despite all of her success, she stays down-to-earth. She still sees the need to give back to the community in any and all ways possible, not only urging her fans to donate and volunteer, but taking the time to actually go to charities and act in the way that she hopes others will. She has taken her fame and put it to the best use possible by promoting organizations that help those that are less fortunate than we are. She's persevered with her acting career while also attending school and seeing the importance in a good education. Nobody would really think that a nine year old girl that stumbled into the spotlight could possibly have such a huge impact on thousands of children, those that she's helped by donating to and those that she's helped by proving that even a kid can become an actor or actress if they work hard enough. She inspires me by doing so much for the world while she maintains such a level-headed personality and tries her best to find the time to study. There are very few people in the world who, at the age of 22, have accomplished as much as she has and left such a positive mark on society, and for those reasons, I believe she's a real life hero.