When I was growing up, my hero was Hermione Granger. She was a young woman notable not for her head-turning looks, but for her outstanding mind. Intelligence and bravery were her defining characteristics. She was the brightest in the class and relentlessly teased for her eagerness, but she was proud of her brain. Reading about Hermione’s coming-of-age in terms of intellectual and emotional instead of physical maturation gave me a hero to look up to who cared about the same things I did. I desired to be intelligent first, beautiful second because of Hermione.