From School to World by Kitra

From School to World by Kitra - September 2023 Scholarship Essay

There is one change I have seen over and over, at every school that if I had the power to change I would. I would change the amount of lonely people there are on campus.
In every school I’ve ever been to, I have yearned for some adult, some student to take pity on me and notice my devastating anguish. But nobody did. Nobody bothered to notice the girl who sat alone on her phone, the student in the back corner, or walked alone in the halls. No one bothered to care and that has been something I have strived to change in every school I’ve gone to.
I have gone out of my way to talk to others, create clubs, and notice those unseen but my efforts are hardly done in vain. I have changed a few people's lives, and all I can imagine is the effect a school can have on its students if it makes an effort to care for the backbone of its student body. Do they not see the unlocked potential of the next generation? The people no one sees- how much potential they have and care for others to give?
Schools only care about them in orientation week, they don’t bother to reach out beyond then. They create meet-up spots or encourage conversations about how to expand more to help their student body. They don’t create organizations just to help students not be locked up in their rooms or to get out of unhealthy relationships with one another. They forget to care for their hearts and as schools, they lose their minds.
If it were in my power, I would encourage students to create clubs just so they can hang out with others and then lead the leaders of the clubs to reach out and get to know each other within the club. Lead them to care more about each other and know the hearts of the lonely among them. Over time, their mindsets would slowly change to notice those forgotten, and they too would encourage others to reach out. All it needs to do is start at school and then it will spread to workplaces as they grow which will spread to homes around the world.
I’m not saying it’s an end-all-be-all answer to loneliness, but it is a big step because it will change the hearts of the people who see and are seen. I believe it will not only change the school but the world a little at a time.