Inspiration

As this semester comes to a bittersweet close, I look back at my college years and feel like it could've been only a year that has passed. I've learned some good things and certainly some bad things; but one thing that I know that has come with the good and the bad: finding out who I am and what I can do for those less fortunate.

When I draw upon the kind of personality and conviction that I have as a person, it's hard to say that I can completely identify myself. I have slowly become a person that genuinely cares about changing the world around me...one step at a time. I tend to think of my ideas as wildfire. A fierce ember that ignites another stem to create a fast-moving flame. When I ask God what I am put on this earth for, I know it is to be that inspiration and help others succeed in their own lives through the ideas I have in mind.

Knowledge is power. However, knowledge also comes with great risk. In the greatest stories we see heroines acquiring the knowledge only after they've been down a beaten path. For example: Pandora's Box, Adam & Eve, Bluebeard, etc. So what's the moral of the story? There is a window of knowledge lying beyond the door. But first, an individual has to open that door. Until we decide to open our eyes, we will not see the world around us.

Being an American is a great thing, we are blessed beyond belief with freedom. However, we've also acquired guns, germs, and steel along the way... (you see what I did there?). To be frank, we live in our clouded bubble. The only real light we see is what comes from the tube sitting on the entertainment center in front of us. After being shaken by the stories of experiences from two of my dearest friends, I can put aside my own problems and really feel blessed for what I have.

I had never really spoken of war or the tours that my friends have endured in the military. But after listening to two of them speak about their own PTSD at a social gathering (okay, the bar), it really dawned on me what sheltered lives we have as Americans. First hand accounts from my friends gave me insight into what lives others lead outside of our country. The struggle that families face in Egypt, Iraq, and Afghanistan truly compares to nothing here in the U.S. Seeing families with unfortunate circumstances is what we really don't hear about or see on the national news. My friends spoke of seeing many families who struggle to put food on the table for their families, having no means of obtaining clean water, and witnessing a life that consists of poverty and famine.

These everyday things that we take for granted is what truly inspires me as an individual. We are not put on this earth to take anything for granted. Yet, there are millions of children in our own backyard who can't get to school because they are taking care of their own parents, finding places to sleep every night because they don't have a stable home, and/or being around a drug-using household. This is the sad reality of an urban lifestyle. My passion to change these lives and let kids know that they have opportunity and a means to change their lives in a positive manner is what keeps me going through the day.

I may have struggled in my own college education with finances, the burden of having to work a job, and pay my rent at the same time. However, none of my struggles will ever be comparable to what others must overcome every single day.

My inspiration is to keep kids in school, help them graduate from high school, get them to understand how to pay for college, but also to keep them focused on the life that they want to live. The future of our country lies in the hands of the kids who need an education to uplift them from their circumstance. This is my inspiration to the world. What's yours?