Life has no boundaries, no limits or walls to obstruct it from thriving. Like a plant that springs up from ash humanity keeps on replenishing regardless of its lurid past and present occurrences. It's impossible not to find beauty in that, to find beauty in our courageous actions in the face of strife. Our ability to love, to feel compassion and all of our psyche's complexities is amazing. The individual has so much to offer the world around him or her. Yet, the splendor of life doesn't seem receive much value these days.
For most it appears as though there isn't much to live for anymore. There are so many people in this world, and breezing through life as an individual doesn't seem to be very important. In fact, most people I know consider themselves to be 'worker ants' consumers contributing to the greater whole'what ever that is. That at seventeen years old, in a fast moving 'emo' nation there's not much to truly look forward to. I agree with that, in a nation (even world) where the value of a life has been demoted to practically nothing; there really isn't much to look forward to.

War is the biggest anti-understanding issue ever known to man. It's the ultimate source of intended death in the world. Whether one is fought for selfish or noble reasons the value of a human life is lessoned in order to make it tolerable. Men become numbers; they become devils, creatures not worth caring about. The violence and hatred nourished by war spreads like wildfire and lasts for generations.

The mindset of my generation is horrifying. We are growing up in a world full of violence and terror. War is a dark force affecting the way we think and live. Racism and other prejudices are rampant. Stereotypes create blockage for cross-cultural understanding. People shrug and dismiss the mass amounts of murder and suicide happening all over the planet as if it didn't matter. It's insidiously imbedded in our minds that people are just numbers. '188 dead,' a newspaper reads, social security numbers, school ID numbers, and passport numbers. It is all so overwhelming.

And of course there is high school' I've found that the majority of my friends have had suicidal thoughts at least once and that one of them tried to commit suicide. With the exception of that one friend the others have found the 'emo' subculture fascinating. It's sickening to find out that those you love are part of a self-hate group. It appears as though the concept of valuing your life is outdated and unpopular.

A Global College education won't give me the ultimate megaphone so I can shout 'love self, love others, love life' to the world but I believe it will help cultivate an even better understanding of people within me. There's no way I could possibly prevent all of the things that cause life to cease to be valued but I believe that with the unique education global college offers I can develop creative and boundless plans to make positive changes for the future.