On World Peace or A Tired College Students Decides To Reflect On The Past And Ends Up Talking About The Future

Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, a random memory popped into my head: this blog. To Neverland... And Back. I tried to start this blog back in 9th grade. I'm not entirely sure why. Perhaps it was a way to try to explain what was going on in my head? Or perhaps it was a last ditch effort to try to raise money for a school trip? Who knows. All memory of why I attempted to start this blog are completely gone, but the blog itself hasn't quite left my memory. I often wonder why? I don't remember usernames or passwords for any Webkinz, Neopets, Club Penguin, or even Warriors Forums, which was basically my entire childhood. I do, however, remember this blog. I don't really use this email anymore. I have a "professional" one now that I use for most things. This is the email that I use when some junky website or store requires an email address and I don't want to deal with their spam. But here I am, typing away on this long-forgotten (or so I thought) blog that 14 year old me created under some lightbulb moment. I imagine that the reason this stands out in my mind so much is that the title To Neverland...And Back is still incredibly relevant.

Last time you heard from me (that is, if there even is a "you"), I was just entering high school. Apparently young me thought that that was a big enough deal to try to write about regularly. It obviously wasn't. I can't even say that I have enough to write about now. I'll probably make this post and then disappear again for x number of years and then reappear out of nowhere again to laugh at this (current) young version of myself who thought that she understood so much more of the world than her 9th grade self did. But I guess I should take advantage of that. How often can you say that you got to laugh at your future self? Anyway, I am now a second semester freshman at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, and I'm concurrent majoring in English Literature and German Language, and getting a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. It is my goal to participate in the Fulbright ETA program which would allow me to live and teach English in Germany for a year. I also hope to one day join the Peace Corps to help bring education to people who are in need of it. I've always known that I would one day become a teacher. The type of teacher has varied through the years however. When I was in 9th grade I bet I never imagined I'd be trying to  teach English in other countries, and yet here I am. 

The idea of the world...of travel...that's my Neverland. I'm 18 years old and I've lived in 3 separate US States and visited 2 German states on separate occasions, one of which was a 4 week long exchange program, but that's not enough. Every second that I spend staying put is that much more restless that I become. The world is so large and so interesting. There are so many new people that I can meet and hear stories from! So many new cultures that I can experience! My quest for knowledge is vast and endless (though I will admit, I do find math and science rather dull. There are way too many rules for my liking. I prefer the Humanities, where everything is open minded and there are endless possibilities for pondering and debate), and I want to help other people have similar opportunities, which is why I'm becoming an educator. The best way to open peoples minds to the beauty and truth of the universe, if they are unable to experience it firsthand, is to educate them. That is my philosophy (and also my political stance but I'll touch on that later). Don't get me wrong, I love college, and I'm in no rush to leave (especially since I'm a member of the Sun Devil Marching Band and as soon as I graduate I'll have to be done with marching band forever), but that doesn't mean that I don't itch for the experiences that I dream about. 

As I'm sure you're aware, there has been a lot of...activity happening in the world. Ideologies are clashing, people are blaming each other for things that are no one's fault, and it often feels like everything that we as a society built is collapsing in on itself (though frankly that may just be an extremely left opinion... sorry, guilty as charged). As much as I hate checking Twitter everyday and seeing violence in Aleppo, shootings in every city, hazing in the military, blatant racism, or just xenophobia in general, I force myself to keep looking. I force myself to keep reading. I force myself to keep learning. Why? Because knowledge is power. And words are power. And as awful as this sounds, those things, those awful things that happen every second of every day all around the world are my motivation. They motivate me because they remind me how much I want to get out there and help. No, I can't stop xenophobia, and no I can't bring about world peace, but what I can do is I can get out there and I can educate people. I can teach them how beautiful and amazing the world and life truly is! I believe that if more people would pause to think about how amazing it is that all of us, each of whom have our own minds, our own beliefs, and our own stories, live together under the same atmosphere, and if they would allow themselves to get curious about another person's story for just a moment, that this world wouldn't be so unbearable all of the time. One moment of inquiry into another's life rips a hole in a closed mind, no matter how much the closed minded person denies it. Through the power of education, through fiction, non-fiction, science, history, math, music, art, languages, you name it, we may be able to bring the world that much closer to that fabled thing that we like to call "World Peace".