Today's program, from member Sarah J. Newton, was part of her PGI Passport Program requirements for her first Level of Completion. She was required to give a speech on "How Optimism Can Make A Better World." Here is her speech:
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| Sarah J. Newton at her induction with Sponsor John Meek. |
Because of us.
We, as arbiters of optimism, create a better world through our actions. Optimism means nothing without the drive to achieve the dreams that we are optimistic about. Each week we meet here with the hope that our efforts will benefit children in our community. It is this yearning for something better for others that keeps us volunteering, that keeps us attending, and that keeps us striving to help in any way that we can.
And we aren’t the only ones. Optimism for a better country pushes civic leaders to do what they can to be elected so that they can better serve the needs of their communities. Optimism that we can have the brightest future for our children pushes teachers to earn the degrees required to teach them. Optimism that we are in a day and age where suffering shouldn’t be allowed pushes doctors and nurses to train for years to take care of our friends and family.
So, although optimism is an incredible trait, it is the people that use their optimistic view that make it a better world. One person at a time, our world is molded into a better place based on ideas from those that allow themselves to hope and dream, and therefore push themselves to create a better world.
I believe that we can do more for the children of Hillsboro. That’s why I joined the Hillsboro Optimist Club. So because I believe that we can do more, and offer more, I didn’t give up on the Essay Contest when we only had two essays a few weeks ago. My drive to provide something good for those youth that took initiative caused me to call every private school I had sent the applications to, e-mail every high schooler I knew, and contact every youth organization I could find. And because of that, we have four essays now, a real competition that will make them ‘feel that there is something in them’ when they win their awards and earn recognition for their hard work.
I am optimistic that we can thrive as a club, and so I’m pushing myself through the PGI program, to learn more about Optimist International, as most of you have probably already done before, making myself the ‘next generation’ if you will of the club, so that I know the steps to take to continue our work with children in this community.
And although my efforts are only those of one person, it’s the optimism of those that have come before me in the club, those that can see what a difference our work can do, that pushes me, like it pushes the rest of us, to do that little bit extra that will ultimately help the children in our community. From the carpooling to volunteering, the new relationships we forge with schools, the time we take to recruit new members, the effort we put into our programs, and the support we give each other, all of these actions are possible because we believe with our ever-present optimism that we can ‘bring out the best in kids’.
And like our optimism of a better future for children, others have dreams for a better world too, and that’s how optimism keeps us going, and making that better world."
