By Jena Seidemann
Managing Editor
@jena_seidemann

*I was asked by a college application to write a speech that I would deliver should I ever have the opportunity to speak at the white house. This is my theoretical speech.* 

In science, it takes one independent variable or factor to change the outcome of an experiment. For people, one tiny factor shapes and determines so many facets of their life: who they are, what they believe in, how they react to situations and so on.

Outside our borders, there are places where women have no rights, no quality of life, no voice simply because she had two x chromosomes instead of one x and one y when she was conceived. Down the street, there is a person that feels ashamed to bring their friends over because their house and their lifestyle is not “grand enough,” and the child with special needs is treated kindly to their face, but behind their backs, they are cruelly ridiculed; the list goes on.

What do they have in common? First and foremost, they are people who are in need of love and compassion. Secondly, they are the direct result of one thing that happened to them, one thing they could not control.

It is injustice to blame someone for the circumstance that befalls them, yet we do it anyway because as

a society, as a whole, and as humans, we have to have an upper edge. We have to be competitive; we have to be the best.

Life can be happy and meaningful regardless of where you were born or how much money you have (shocker), but it makes it easier if people are more uplifting. I do not know about you, but I am always disappointed whenever I hear someone say so and so did one good thing so his or her “faith in humanity is restored.”

There is more good in this world, but it takes effort to find it and make sure that it continues, and if you truly have “lost” faith in humanity, then do something to restore it; waiting will not do or solve anything.

The best way to foster a better local and global community is to stop being so competitive by clawing your way to the top to be the best stop and start caring about others.

It needs to be a priority. Actions do speak louder than words and they determine our future. If we want “world peace” and a better life for our children and their children, it starts with one. That individual is you, me, he, she, we.

How crazy is it that each individual has the vulnerability to be changed by another so easily and the power to influence others greatly? We are small in the seven billion on this Earth but not to the people around us.

For example, there was a little girl who was given up for adoption because she was not a boy, not “good” enough. She was placed on the doorstep of her city police and for two years, she waited for a family.

Her family finally came and now she is writing this column as a testament to how destructive one bad action can be to a life and how one act of kindness made the world, especially her world, better.

Sir Isaac Newton was correct in two of his laws of motion, an object at rest will stay at rest until it is acted upon. There will be no change until someone initiates it.

In the same way, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Positivity is just as contagious as negativity, so share the love, and even if the person does not reciprocate kindness towards you, we have this hope that they will continue the chain with other people.

Maybe people have told you that one out of seven billion is insignificant and they are right to some extent. However, the kindness you share with those around you is priceless.

We do not need to win Nobel Peace Prizes to validate the significance and impact we have. It does not take an entire improvement to improve the lives of those around us, and as sappy as all my advice is, it can shape a better future for our children, which is coming sooner than you think. Scary ? I know.

So I ask of you, when you meet another person, love them, learn about them, and accept them, and should this be the only time you ever meet, let it be a good one because where we invest our kindness, we plant seeds of hope for a generation built on love. And goodness, that is what this world needs.