self-assertive

Sending Su-hyeok to Dochang had punctured her own belief that a good education was one that could mold every child into a self-assertive “leader” type.

"They can deal with crime by chain-gang and lynch law, or at least they think they can, but the South can conceive neither machinery nor place for the educated, self-reliant, self-assertive black man," he wrote.

She displays all the characteristics of the modern, self-assertive woman.

“At that time, the more pressure we had, the more adamant and arrogant and self-assertive we became, because we were too nationalistic and too undemocratic, and that was our destiny,” Mr. Miyake said.

In his grief, Tony resolves to become the person he’s always wanted to be — self-assertive, impolitic and largely resistant to the efforts of friends who hope to steer him onto more positive paths.