IN THEIR OWN WORDS

Ari Miller

“Reading is, to me, magic. Reading is a way for people to reach out to each other, sharing their thoughts, concerns, emotions. Their ideas, their stories, the way they see the world. A way of past generations speaking to us, telling us of their experiences, and of the lessons they’d learned.”

Nolan Stegner

“One of the most important way people can have a positive perspective on life is by looking at the little things, for example, from where you are sitting in this room, look around you and try to point out all the items that you can see that are green. As you look around, you might start to notice things that you didn’t realize were there. You might even feel like now green things are everywhere, and the same goes for positivity. If you really look for it, it’s everywhere.”

Tasman Peters

“We humans are still nature, even though we may not always think of it or realize it. We occasionally think of ourselves as higher beings than the animals outside of our apartments, houses, and cities, but really, we are just different. When I am in nature, I don’t feel alone. I feel surrounded by life in a more pure form than I am used to seeing anywhere else.”

Zizi Brandt

“I’m supposed to stand here and make a statement on what I believe, but I believe in many things: happiness, anger, fear, family, loss, nature, love, trial and error. Of all these things I had to pick from, I found change at the center of it all.”

(con’t on page 12)

(con’t from page 11)

Julian Durussel

“Communities can be very different from each other. They can be big or small, and they can form for many different reasons. Communities are important to me because of the people you can meet and the experiences you can gain while you’re there.”

Natalie Clarke

“Creating lyrics helps me to understand my thoughts and feelings. Having the clarity of understanding what you’re feeling, even just for a second, reminds us what we are working for and helps us hope for the future. I’m not saying that music will stop all the negativity in your life. But I am promising that by looking into ourselves and exploring our thoughts and feeling through music, that we will receive a better clarity of the present and more hope.”

Mira Roffers

“I might not be able to stop world hunger, but maybe I can comfort a friend who’s feeling sad. I might not be able to stop violence in the world, but maybe I can volunteer and help people in my community that need it. I might not be able to give everyone in the world an equal voice, but I can show appreciation and love to the people around me. Maybe that’s what being a good person is about: doing what you can with what you have.”