Quarks are quarks, no matter who you are by Brittany

Quarks are quarks, no matter who you are by Brittany - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

Quarks are currently the smallest known particle in the world. Quarks make up hadrons, which make up atoms, which make up every known element to the human species; elements that the human species is made up of. There are 7*10^27th atoms in a human body, a vastly complex sea of reactions and chemicals, of chaos and beauty, each particle of a person’s being determining who they are. Bodies that are made up of many of the same elements as stars, breathing the same air as dinosaurs had, traveling to the most hostile places on the planet just because we can, and sending ourselves shooting from the terrestrial ball we call home to explore the vast vacuum of space. A million billion quarks working in harmony to produce this existence we call life.
No matter what you believe, whether you are religious or not, it cannot be denied that the events of the universe fell perfectly in place for you to exist now, at this very moment in time.
And yet, we as humans have the audacity to destroy that life. We have the gall to call someone as any less than ourselves. We as humans are selfish and scared of the beautiful differences that make us as humans special and unique. At a basis, humans are flawed and inclined to do wrong, whether it be cultural upbringing, societal influences, or the nature of the human species. But humans have the willpower and the strength to do better. Humanity has the capabilities to do great good.
Human beings are vastly more complex than they appear to be on the surface. On the surface we see a body, with arms and legs and a head, we see skin color, we see eye color, we see hair, and we see clothes. And sadly many stop looking there, preconceived notions debilitating our ability to look deeper into the complexity of an individual. Under the surface are nationality, culture, upbringing, and memories. Every single person’s experience is different, experiences created, uploaded, and stored in our consciences. Peel away a person’s skin and everyone is made up of muscles, bones, and organs. Put the skin back on, and one must realize skin color is simply an evolutionary reaction to how close to the equator a person lives.
It is easy to destroy life, but it is hard to create life. The most important thing we as human beings can do is to respect life. If we can’t do anything else, we can try to give human beings the patience and compassion we’d want for ourselves. People don’t have to see eye to eye, the majority of people won’t. It is easy to get wrapped up in the construct of one’s own ideals; it’s easy to be selfish. But the best that we can do is to remain sensible, to argue with intelligence and reason.
Why does this matter? Because no human is greater than the next. You are all complex machines with super computers in your skulls, with pumps and filters and energy converters. We’re all bundles and masses of atoms and quarks. At a sub molecular level, we are the same.