“Unless you
turn the handle, the door will forever remain a wall.” ~Dovid N. Roetter
For as long as I can recall, I have
been drawn to the power of words; both the written and spoken. They can make
you cry, laugh, sigh, smile, love, and hate simply based on how the
writer/speaker sends it across and how the other end perceives it.
The
foundation of my love for words is due to the fact that they have the ability
to create a bond between oneself and another without the necessity of
physically knowing one another. Pen Pals, for example, have been creating
friendships for decades with the two people never once meeting; yet, they can
become the closest of friends simply through the usage of words.
Both
writing and speaking has helped me forge connections with people I would
otherwise never considered conversing with. It has helped me become active
within my community and my college, which in turn has made me who I am today.
Being shy about
my first semester in a college classroom back in 2013, I was hesitant to become
involved with any student clubs on campus. However, I decided to reach out to
the Jewish Student Organization of Oakland Community College, a branch of
Hillel of Metro Detroit, and that ‘Hello’ drew me down a path that has forever changed
my life.
I found
myself being reeled into Student Life on campus, and ended up becoming the new
President of the club this past August. Since then, I have made connections
with people that I never thought I would meet. For example, OCC had asked me to
represent them in the beginning of May 2015 as their school mascot during
Detroit’s College Signing Day; thus I was able to meet First Lady Michelle
Obama.
Communicating
with others has helped give me the strength to arrange large events at OCC. For
example, I arranged an Anti-Bullying Dance Day in November 2014 where thirty students
and faculty members joined together on the dance floor to turn the beat around
on bullying. I also put together a Multi-Faith Panel in February 2015 where we
had representatives of six popular faiths [Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Atheism, Buddhism, and Hinduism] discussing their choice of faith and how we,
as a college and a community, can help create a more loving world. Student Life
has helped further a passion within myself that I have not been able to quench:
a desire to be even more open and ‘people-friendly’. A desire to reach out and make
my own connections.
Speaking, I
realized, has a source of magic behind it. As Professor Albus Dumbledore once
said, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of
magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it” (Harry Potter and
the Deathly Hallows). I recall back to June 2010, as I stood in front of the
podium delivering my high school Valedictorian speech. I remember speaking
about the many ups and downs one goes through while in their journey of
education. I was able to witness people in the audiences’ eyes glaze over as my
discussion brought them back in time to when they attended school. I discovered
then how the energy, tone, and stressing of the right wording can twist a
sentence into countless meanings.
Writing helps
me express my thoughts and share them with the world. Whether it may be a poem
regarding thoughts about my first day in college, published on the OCC Spirit Blog,
or sharing the moment of when I visited my brother’s grave for the first time,
published in the N’shei Chabad Worldwide Newsletter. Writing is an outlet of my
thoughts, emotions, and various lessons that I have learned and someone, at any
time across the globe, can read it and connect with me. Chances are that I
won’t even be aware of it; yet, the connection will still be established.
Each and every
person we meet or connect with in our lifetime is valuable. As The Doctor once
said: “In 900 years of time and space I’ve never met someone who wasn’t
important” (Doctor Who, Season Six). Every single person in this world leaves a
legacy behind; however, it is their choice if it will be a legacy worthy of remembrance.
Permit me to share the following poem I had written back in
January, entitled “Empty Chairs”:
Gathered
together they wait patiently, not a soul lingers nearby.
They wait
without moving an inch, unknowing who will be their future.
Seventeen
of them are around, waiting for the room to fill up.
Slowly
one by one receives a soul, it sits empty no more.
It has a
gift of life, for just an hour or three.
It hears
the crying and the laughter of whomever sits upon thee.
It learns
a story of someone so special, it is now content.
It
becomes a reflection of the person, it is their spot in the room.
Suddenly,
without warning, the human rises tall and proud.
Swiftly
walks away and out the door, never to be seen again.
It waits
so anxiously, for another to fill the void.
Will
another come, who may ever know?
We are
all in this world, for but a fleeting moment.
Our
stories are told loudly, and we laugh all together.
Yet a
time does come when we get up, we leave the room without a warning.
Just one
question does remain, that we must ask ourselves:
Will I
remain an empty chair, for I am leaving a legacy?
Or will I
remain an empty chair, for I am no one worth remembering?
Why is a
legacy so important? Why should we care what people think of us once we are
dead? The answer is simple. It is not about what people think about what you
did with your life; rather it is about what we have passed on to the next
generation. As I would sometimes tell people, “You can only inspire within
others what others have previously inspired within you”. Each connection that
we make on this earth leaves an impact on the other person; positive or
negative. Words are the numerous roads we take to the person next door. It is
up to us to be careful to only write or speak positive things about our fellows
as the next generation is constantly looking out to see who to copy and admire.
We need to bear in mind that a single word can kill a friendship or spark true
love.
This is why
I have always been engrossed with words; I, as the speaker or writer, have the
power to turn some random combinations of letters into a work of beauty or
destruction. I can take peoples’ emotions and reshape them to my desires; bringing
them to tears or make them clutch their ribs in laughter. I can touch the essence
of their very being.
However, this
can only be done once the connection has already been made. Until I utter one
specific word, my magic can achieve no results. Unless I make the first move,
the rest of the world will be like frozen statues to me, unable to connect and
communicate with. I must reach out and create my own legacy. I must do all that
I can do to use language to help the world; to bring love and harmony to those
around me and across the globe. No one will make the connections for me; I must
be the first one to extend my hand and say “Hello”.
