After listening to Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate discuss Peace, Democracy, and Environmental Justice on Sept. 29 as a part of the Social Justice Lecture Series provided by the Tucker Foundation, I heard one message -- change starts with each of us.
I noticed a theme running through this message that our campus has been discussing all week -- character. At the core, Wangari's speech carried the same theme Noah Riner intended for his convocation speech. Character begins with me. We all know what is right or wrong if we listen to ourselves inside. Wangari said, "Inside your own heart, inside your own mind, you make a decision." This is the goal of character " listening to the right choice and making it.
When I think of what it means to have character, I think of the numerous individuals in our school, and in our world, who get up every morning with one thing on their mind: "What can I do to make my world a better place today?" Wangari Maathai did this in her home country and continued each day to do something that is making our world a better place. Her courage and persistence motivate and encourage us to do the same thing.
Maathai closed her speech with the story of a burning forest. All the animals ran out of the forest except for one hummingbird who flew back and forth from the river, carrying water in his beak, and pouring it on the fire. When asked what he was doing, the hummingbird replied, "I'm doing the best I can." Wangari encouraged each of us to "be a hummingbird and do the best [we] can to help put out the fire."
Whatever motivates you to make decisions with character, keep pressing toward the goal. Collectively our efforts toward peace and justice will build a community not divided by rhetoric, but united in purpose.
