Educated by Tara Westover
“My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs.”
How many women feel this way? As if they have handed over the pen of their life story to someone else to write.
You may never have thought that a woman with a PhD from Cambridge would be the one to have written the quote above.
A woman who pulled herself out of a violent, oppressive, and almost sadistic home environment.
A woman who is a remarkable inspiration for those who would like their life to be any different to how it is.
Westover walked into a classroom for the first time at age 17 after working in her father’s scrap yard instead of receiving a formal education; helping her mother as a midwife instead of having a childhood; and using herbal concoctions instead of Western medicine for concussions, burns and severe wounds.
Westover gives full narratives about her love for the land on which she grows up. She tells of her mentally ill father (bipolar), her merciless brother, and her mother – who turns a blind eye to the cruelty happening to her children around her.
Westover explains how her survivalist Mormon obsessed household refused to be part of the world outside of their own, forbidding education and interaction with those who were different. This upbringing further embeds an ignorance and disadvantage to this woman who then broke through to succeed so phenomenally.
The bulk of the story revolves around Tara’s abuse and suffering. This is described in raw, emotionally draining, and harrowing detail. It certainly serves to bring home the remarkable success of her later triumphs. However, the anecdotes are numerous and intense, and it is questioned whether this excessive emphasis is really necessary in making the point. It certainly could have been edited down, without losing the meaning that these stories portray.
There are numerous examples of people who persist despite difficult trials, yet what makes this book so inspiring is the deep disparity between a childhood and the accomplished women that she grew up to be.
The story has all the ingredients required to motivate any woman who has career aspirations yet feels like her background or life challenges could block her success. Westover shows the possibilities that can be realised with passion to build your profession.
The core features of the book provide several vital mindsets that can aid anyone who is open to personal and professional growth:
- Those who love you, may not love and support you in the way you need.
- Severing ties with negative and destructive relationships is necessary for your own survival.
- Obstacles will always appear in your path, yet you have the strength to overcome these, even you don’t believe it at the time.
- You have immense power within you to achieve what you want to achieve.
- You are able to cast off deeply embedded beliefs that others may have imposed onto you.
- This is your life – live it the way you want to.
Actualising human potential is the heart of this story of a woman who persevered against exceptional challenges. It is an example of tenacity and fortitude.
This book is an education for any woman who would like to grab hold of the pen an write her own life story to forge her own career path.
“Whomever you become, whatever you make yourself into, that is who you always were.”
Tara Westover
