Sheffield a contribution to women’s history

This generation has been blessed with a variance of unique gifts, attained through the strength, courage, intuition and determination of those who precede us. Chief among these fortunes rests a gift to the women who fall after Susan B. Anthony and Gloria Steinem; we, the fortunate league, blessed to have been born beyond the struggles of Lucy Burns, Alice Paul, Gloria Vanderbilt and Elizabeth Caddy Stanton.
But beyond these brave women who fought so passionately for the rights we merely deign to acknowledge, are the women fighting silently at home – those who go out into their communities and make fervent strides to create a world better than the one they themselves have met. These homemakers and executives, teachers and historians, lawyers and doctors, soldiers and volunteers, these mothers, sisters, friends and wives: these are the women who have brought with them the goodness you witness and the truths you hold dear.
Indisputably, without both the philanthropic spirit and the entrepreneurial gumption of women, we would be a much lesser people. Leslie Sheffield, an enthusiastically dedicated citizen of Jones County, embodies both these characteristics flawlessly.
Born and raised in Gray, Ga., Sheffield, 25, graduated from Jones County High School in 2000. Making good on a promise to her parents, she then went on to attend Georgia College & State University, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. After studying as a Master Cosmetologist and graduating from Central Georgia Tech in 2006, Leslie began planning the opening of her own full-service beauty salon — The Red Dress Salon.
For one so young, these attributes and ambitions are worthy of high praise, but Sheffield’s dreams for others far outnumber her own aspirations. While planning to open her own salon, she has afforded the Public Relations Campaigns class at Georgia College & State University the opportunity to have hands-on experience by creating a campaign for The Red Dress Salon.
Ashley Tramontin, the Logistics Specialist for one of five competing agencies in the class, explained, “Asking someone to define Leslie [Sheffield] in one word is unreasonable, but if I must, I would have to say ‘energetic’.” Her personable demeanor and infectious self-motivation are an unvarying inspiration to those around her.
When thinking of the heroines of this age, names such as Mother Theresa, Emilie Schindler, and Eleanor Roosevelt may spring to mind, for each has certainly contributed to the success of many nations and their people. But if I were asked, I would most certainly seek to commemorate my mother, my sister, my professors and my friends, for these are the women who have changed my life, and allowed me to go out and create a world better than the one I have met. Leslie Sheffield is on my list of modern heroines. She made a point to succeed in this world, and she will certainly triumph through means of an uncommon blend: determination and compassion.
Thomas Watson, an early lyrical poet once wrote, “The great leaders of every age are those who set their own expectations and constantly exceed them.” It is certain that he was speaking of no lesser a person than Leslie Sheffield. Knowing her has been a rip-roaring, fire-cracking, roller coaster of a ride; and I am all the better for having bought a ticket.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 13 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry