A Product Of

A Product Of

When I said, "we are just a product of our environment," I wanted to crumble the words up and swallow them down as if they were never spoken. Time travel machine be invented sooner.

If you want to make big change, you have to start small.

Jessica Jackley (co-founder of KIVA.org)

My deepest fear is that I will loose the sparkle of who I am as I adapt to the culture I'm in. When I studied in Mexico, I was so cognizant of how much I stuck out- no matter how desperate I wanted to assimilate to the majority. I tried, but once a mid-West white girl, always a mid-West white girl. In Mexico, I craved identification with the hispanic culture but in this new place, I crave change without being consumed.

Do the little changes we make add up to something more than romantic dreams of a utopian workplace? When I look back over 2 years, will I see the small ripples of change compounded over time?

As I grow, I see, in full 20/20 vision, that change also starts with yourself. I can only be out of who I am. Big change starts with self.