Changing the World

When people ask me what I want to do when I grow up, I answer them

quite simply and firmly, "I am going to change the world." I am 17 years

old, but I have known for a very long time that I would, in some way, be

responsible for shaping the world of the future. Crazy? Maybe. Impossible?

Definitely not.

Unfortunately, in my experience, it has been kids my age who tell me

that I am just a dreamer and that there is no way I could possibly make a

difference in the world. "Come on Elisa," they tell me, "You're just a kid.

No one in his or her right mind is going to listen to some high school girl.

Don't bother; no one cares anyway. Someone else will do it."

I think that the greatest opportunity facing youth today is the power to

better the world around us by using new tools, new technologies and a

new understanding of the global community. By the same token I believe

that the most urgent problem facing youth today is indifference. The general

attitude about everything and anything is "Who cares? I am not that

important, there is nothing I can do about it." I find this incredibly sad and

distressing. God gives us the intelligence to build the tools; we only need to

use them with the guidance of His Spirit guided by His love.

My generation is very cynical when it comes to helping out. They claim that

what they have to say couldn't possibly be important enough to be heard

by others. What they don't understand are two very important concepts.

First of all, the majority of the youth today don't realize that there are

plenty of problems in their own community. Making a difference doesn't

always mean moving to Somalia to end hunger. It could mean something

along the lines of helping a migrant family learn the basics of the English

language. Second of all, youth today don't realize how something very

simple can change someone's entire world. By teaching that family English,

for example, they will