Good Morning President Elect Obama -
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for being an inspiation to our future leaders. My son is 15 years old and this year, since money is tight and I am getting creative with my Christmas gifts, I gave my 15 year old son, Adam, the gift of my vote. He felt that his voice would never be heard and that my vote did not matter. I gave him my vote after reading a paper he wrote. Adam Huxhold, is a sophomore at Plainfield South High School, in Plainfield, IL.
Adam had been watching the democratic and republican elections with us. As each presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate gave their speeches he had plenty of words and comments for them. I told him he should do what he could to let them know that his voice mattered. A favorite quote in our house, that I tell my children often is "You must be the change you wish to see in the world". He went up to his room and later that night, close to midnight, after watching your acceptance speech, he came and asked his father and I to read what he had written. He managed to leave me speechless and full of thought.
People need to know that teenagers have a vested interest in the world and where this country is headed. It starts with one person and, little by little, people of all ages will begin to think “yes………there’s so much room for improvement.” We all need to acknowledge each other as citizens of the world, we all have our differences, but we’re the only species that walks upright and has powers of communication. He reminded me of John Adams and his struggle to write the Constitution. I felt a need to let others know what is ruminating in this young man's mind. It will take people like my 15 year old son to make a difference in the future and if Adam is part of that future, then I say way to go!
Below are his words, exactly as he typed them out that night. A mother could not be more proud and wanted to share with you hope and the knowledge that yes, our children are watching and listening to the examples we set. Below is Adam's paper:
This world's a mess, and the country we live in is no different. Turn on the news sometime today...what do you see? Human Ugliness? Tragedy? Really, for every somewhat happy and upbeat headline there's five more examples of Grief and Hate. Every Human has its flaws sure, some say that's what makes us Human, yet we must as a race, find a common ground if we are to survive. We all are too busy staring at what makes the person next to you different than you to be able to grasp who that person really is. All the time I see people stopping at the barriers and making a pre-determined judgment. I don't know about you but I REFUSE to live in a world where it matters what religion you are or what choices you've made for your life. No more will I stand idly by as other Human Beings treat their fellow man as lower than them, no longer will I not speak out over wrongs committed from one human to the next. I believe in a world where it doesn't matter at all what your religion is, or how much money you have, or where your from. I believe in a world where unity as a species goes first and other unimportant things go second. Countries are truly the biggest barrier we must overcome. Sure, we'll need leaders, sure we'll need structure, yet why can't we have a single unified philosophy? Why can't people see that maybe governments are not all powerful, in truth leaders and governments are merely Human, as us. We have the same power as them, the same basic human virtues and flaws. Every place in the world is marred by this mentality that its the Leaders with the true power, not the people themselves. Shouldn't people in the world care that other people are suffering? Shouldn't we care that people are dying for no reason at all? We all must overcome challenges, get past barriers, yet its not fair that some people's challenges are harder to overcome than other's. We must shoulder the weight and help, in way possible, those who's barriers are harder to overcome, those who's challenges include basic survival on a daily basis. We all must see that its not anything in the world holding us back, its ourselves, we're the ones holding ourselves back from true unity. We all must fight to see true freedom on this planet. We all must make sacrifices if we're to save ourselves as a species. This is my doctrine and I'm not trying to push it on others. Its up to you whether or not you choose to follow. Unity, that's the belief I'll fight for, not change or a need to rebel, rather a need to do anything to bring us together as a species so we may face challenges together, not alone.
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