by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Two Sartell Middle School students – Riley Hengel and Shea Stuckey – won awards for their essays in a contest sponsored by the St. Cloud Optimist Club.
The purpose of the Optimist Club is to promote good government and civic affairs, inspire respect for law, promote patriotism and to work for international accord and friendship among people.
The following are the award-winning essays written by Shea Stuckey and Riley Hengel.
What does the world gain from optimism?
by Shea Stuckey
What does the world gain from optimism? Now, that’s a deep thought. To begin I need to be honest: I’m not an optimistic person. To be more honest, I’m a pessimist, and if you want to be exact, I’m a sarcastic pessimist.
As I look around, I see two types of optimistic people. First is the obvious optimist. They are the ones you can tell are optimists. They are bubbly, cheerful and basically seem like they’re floating on a cloud of cotton candy. Second is the surprise optimist. At first they seem to be in between being an optimist and a pessimist. But as you get to know them, they reveal themselves as optimists. As a pessimist, I often find myself wondering why are optimists, so, what’s the word, so – well – optimistic. I figured it makes them feel good. Then I began to wonder, what about everyone else? How does it make everyone else feel? Now this really made me think.
My friend Hannah (an optimist) told me to think what would the world be like without optimism. At first I thought it would be the same. She told me to think again. When I thought again, I realized it would probably be a lot less happy. The balance between pessimists and optimists is like a ying-yang. Optimists bring out the happy and light, and pessimists focus on the negativity and tend to pop optimists’ balloons of cheeriness. This is the way I figure it, when optimists do their optimist thing, they spread their joy to unsuspecting subjects who then spread it to other subjects. And before you know it, you have a worldwide outbreak of optimists! And what does the world gain from that?
Well, more people would be striving for their very best. And with more people striving for their best, we will probably be doing better than we did before. But I’m guessing that’s not the only thing the world gains from optimism. Helen Keller once said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” After reading that quote and countless others, I realized the world gains more from optimism than cheeriness and overachieving. The world gains hope and confidence for the future. It gains faithfulness. But the world isn’t the only thing that gains from optimism. We gain the ability to have respect toward each other; we learn how to be responsible for our choices; we learn how to step up for the greater good of our city, our state, our country and the whole world. To put it in perspective, not just one person gains something from being optimistic, the whole world does.
Now I need to address something I mentioned earlier, you know, about being a pessimist. You were probably wondering why a pessimist is speaking about optimism when she clearly said she was a pessimist. Well, to understand optimism, you need to understand pessimism so you can truly understand what an optimist is.
When I was looking through quotes, I found this one from George F. Will about being a pessimist: “The nice part about being a pessimist is you are constantly either being proven right or pleasantly surprised.”
But then there is Michael Jordan, who said, “I hope the millions of people I’ve touched have the optimism and the desire to share their goals and hard work and persevere with a positive attitude.”
Doing this made me realize pessimists and optimists aren’t opposites but two pieces of a whole.
What the world gains from optimism
Riley Hengel
Without optimism the world would be extremely different than it is today. Many people think optimism is a trait that can seem strange at times, some other people think optimism is always looking on the bright side. But they don’t know optimism can be having hope in something that goes unanswered.
In the past, optimism has led to great changes in the world that made it the way it is now. When Louis Pasteur started his fight against rabies (hydrophobia) he couldn’t even see the virus he was fighting, because microscopes weren’t advanced enough. He also developed the pasteurization technique and made food safer to eat. Without Pasteur and his optimism. we may not have safe food or a cure for rabies.
Rosa Parks was a Civil Rights activist who didn’t give up her seat on the bus when a white person wanted it; she was arrested but never gave up. She stood tall and believed this wrong would be righted. After Rosa was arrested, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began; most of the black population in Montgomery stopped riding buses. Because of this, bus companies went out of business and had to change the rules. Without Parks and her optimism this may not have happened and the Civil Rights movement may not have gained momentum for a long time.
Even today people across the world are helping others by having optimism the world can and will become a better place. United Nation’s International Children’s Fund and all its volunteers demonstrate optimism in making the world a better place by helping children around the world. UNICEF gives children in need the necessities such as food, clean water and a proper education needed to have a long and prosperous life.
United Way and its volunteers have optimism and share it with the world through volunteer work in communities across the United States (and many) different countries. Volunteers from the United Way help people get jobs and get back on their feet after a setback or disaster.
Habitat for Humanity shows its optimism by building homes for the homeless and those below the poverty line. Habitat for Humanity builds houses in an attempt to eliminate substandard housing in low-income areas. These organizations help lots of people every day and make the world much better than it would be without. Even with all these people who have optimism, the world can still benefit by having more. Right now, you could do something optimistic that will give someone in the world hope. You could start small by donating to a charity or volunteering to help people in your community. You could also pick up trash in your neighborhood and help stop pollution or donate some of your food to a food bank. But if you are thinking big, you could go to Uganda or India and teach children how to read and write or maybe give a speech. All of these examples show optimism the world can change for the better.
Without Louis Pasteur having optimism, we may not have a cure for rabies and food might not be safe to eat. Without Rosa Parks’ optimism, the United States could still be segregated. Without people filled with optimism who can make a difference and help others, what would the world’s future look like? The world may never be perfect, but with all of us having optimism in making it better, it will surely continue in the right direction. THAT is what the world gains from optimism.
Riley Hengel and Shea Stuckey, both Sartell Middle School students, recently won an essay contest sponsored by the St. Cloud Optimist Club.
