My mind is ever changing. Being a high school student in today’s times requires a curious mind, and an open heart. This year, I saw the world change in a way that is filled with oblivion, resulting in my upsurge of compassion. Why is it that in my seventeen years of living, I see rights and wrongs more than our supposed “wise and elderly”?

Looking back in this year, I see my younger self once again. I see my younger self sitting in my room, questioning why my vocalization of wrong doings got me in trouble, learning that if I am young, my opinions are subjected to the voice of my elders. 

The world is currently filled with hate, and I want to change it. The fear of repercussions that once controlled me in the beginning of the year shifted to determinism of taking those repercussions and turning them into a spark, spark of intensity. 

I am going to make a change. The adults who run our future will hear my voice, and I plan to use it wisely. Seeing the world change in my junior year of high school, a shift in a way I can not fathom, will transform once again, and I plan to be a part of changing it. 

Although I am seventeen years old, I understand that I see the world differently than those who have lived it longer. What I don’t understand is why I see the idea of equality and acceptance as a human right, while others see it as a choice.

Our world is changing in a way where equality is a choice.

I don’t want to live in a world where that is the case. 

In only a school year, the spark has changed into a flame. I see our future being kind. One voice, my voice can’t make the change. However, using my one voice and vocalizing it to others through my writing can be a starting point. 

My writing can and will change the way others, living in oblivion, see the future. Being a junior in high school may feel like a small fish in a big sea, but I know that determination once changed the world before, and it will change the world again. 

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference. You just have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” 

• Jane Goodall