Changing the World

Then I landed on August 7. Three words appeared on August 7, "Changing the World." Changing the world...

What? What on earth does this mean. The phrase appears eight times throughout the course of the year, then eventual my dad just started writing "CTW." Apparently writing out three full words became too difficult a task. I spent a lot of time very angry with my father. I thought he was incredibly selfish.

I shared this story with the middle school. I told them how I think my dad was giving me a "calling" for my life and how I honestly believe they could also be world changers.
Earlier today I received this email from one their English teachers, who also happens to be a close friend of mine.
Recently my students had a writing assignment where they had to either tell a part of their story they've always wanted to tell, OR respond to one of the guest speakers we've had in 8th grade this year. I got a variety of pieces from the kids, but as I suspected, you made an
impact on John (the student's name has been changed), who chose to write about you. With his permission, I'll give you a copy of his full paper, but below is a little excerpt
impact on John (the student's name has been changed), who chose to write about you. With his permission, I'll give you a copy of his full paper, but below is a little excerpt
I thought was worth sharing:
"But the biggest affect Keith had put on me was when he had spoke about his dad passing away when he was around 12. Many people get mad at their lives and turn to doing bad things like drugs. But instead of heading down that road Keith had used this to motivate himself to make a change in the world. This influenced me to do the same with what I'm going through with my mom. Like him I'm also going to try to turn some negatives into positives instead of being made at my life. That was what I had loved the most about his presentation."
"But the biggest affect Keith had put on me was when he had spoke about his dad passing away when he was around 12. Many people get mad at their lives and turn to doing bad things like drugs. But instead of heading down that road Keith had used this to motivate himself to make a change in the world. This influenced me to do the same with what I'm going through with my mom. Like him I'm also going to try to turn some negatives into positives instead of being made at my life. That was what I had loved the most about his presentation."
I fought back tears while reading this. This 8th graders "gets it" way more than I ever did, or maybe ever will.
Changing the world is a pretty significance task, but you can't for one second convince me that this student isn't capable of doing so.
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