It Matters, You Matter by Simran

It Matters, You Matter by Simran - March 2017 Scholarship Essay

From the stage or podium, I can see hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals around me. It’s hard to imagine that all these individuals would have a common topic that they would care to listen to for a few minutes. Perhaps some individuals still won’t listen, but the topic at hand still affects them. It holds true for everyone, even those who don’t believe it. I didn’t believe it at first either. I can picture myself getting ready to give the speech. I am prepared but still nervous.
“Welcome students and faculties of this fine university. College is a stressful time. It could be as simple as socializing with new peers or as serious as the financial situation of an individual. Whatever the stress, everyone at college experiences some of it. For some the stress, may consume them. They might start thinking, “Is this all worth it?” “Am I worth it?” “Do I even matter?” Well I am here to tell you that you do matter. Every single individual matters.
Life is always seen through your perspective. Through your eyes, your actions and your experiences. So, it might be easy to think life is all about you, but it’s not. It never was. Life was there much longer than any of us, no matter your age. But that does not mean that every single individual in this room does not matter. Every single individual matter. Each of them have a different experience and a different perspective to share. Each of them have something to contribute to the world.
Perhaps you look at the individual to your left and the individual to your right and say “I don’t care about them. I don’t know them.” That is understandable, you may not care for them on a personal level. It is highly improbable for one to know every single person on this planet on a personal level. However, most individuals have a family whether biological or otherwise, or a set of friends. To those people that individual matters and is important, but that’s not what I am here to talk about. We are all humans.
It doesn’t matter your gender, your sexual orientation, your race or anything else that can classify humans into categorizes of differences. We are all humans, yet we treat some humans as if they are beneath us or shouldn’t matter. No. Every individual matters, they have something to share with the world. Perhaps it is a prodigy violinist gracing us with their music or perhaps a waitress at a restaurant who made your dining experience just a little better. Why should it matter that, that prodigy may be Muslim? Why should it matter that, that waitress has a wife and child she goes home to? Why should they be treated as if they aren’t human.
Every human has rights just for being human. They are called human rights. Other humans believe that some people don’t deserve these rights. Right to Marriage is one and yet only recently gay marriage is being recognized. Freedom from discrimination is another human right. Yet many minorities feel they are being discriminated on a daily basis. We are humans and we all matter.
We are at a university that has a wealth of diversity, yet still we face these discriminations. As the students and faculties of this college, I want you to know that you matter, and so does every other human. Treat your fellow humans right, respect them and let them know they matter too.”