Change In Its Many
Forms
By
Erika Houser
For
First Austin: a baptist community of faith
Youth-led
Worship
March
3, 2019
I recently attended a scholarship
interview at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where I was being interviewed
by two professors. At this point, I was used to the “out of the box” questions
that schools liked to ask, such as “what would happen if you fell off the face
of the earth” or even “what does x squared mean to you?”, but I absolutely hated
them because my brain doesn’t do very well with abstract ideas like those. So,
before entering the room, I obviously felt very nervous and unprepared, because
I just knew that they were going to ask me something along those lines.
Everything was going smoothly, and I had almost made it out of the woods, until
one of the professors asked, “Is there anything you would like us to know about
yourself that you cannot put down on paper?” Ah, this was it. I knew that this
was meant to be the curve-ball question that would make me stop and ponder
deeply, but for some odd and unexpected reason, I instantly knew my answer.
After a few seconds of pretending to really mull over the question, my
paraphrased response was this: I feel that the events and experiences in my
life have prepared me for living out my purpose of using my compassion and
empathy to comfort those experiencing pain and struggle. This feeling has been
very difficult for me to articulate through words, because no matter how many
times I rephrase the wording, it never sounds as powerful as it does in my
heart.
After saying that, I felt quite proud of
myself. Nowadays, I feel like people, especially those my age, steer clear of
voicing their hopes and perhaps lofty ambitions, simply because they are scared
that they don’t have the abilities to succeed and fulfill their dreams. Failure
is not an option for them, because it’s obviously better to go with the safer
option that guarantees stability instead of branching out and seeing just how
far you can stretch in life. Now, although I’m a logical and analytical
thinker, I believe that in order to make an impact or create change, you have
to follow the compelling force within you that drives your actions and think
about the practical steps later. In any other situation, I would approach it
from a practical step-by-step standpoint, but this is not a typical situation.
I’m talking about how I want to better humanity and instigate change. At some
point, you have to let go of any fears and doubts that you have, and just have
faith that your initially small actions will build on top of each other and
create greater change than you ever could have hoped for.
Now, most everyone struggles with how they
will leave their mark on the world, and while I know that I will continue to
wrestle with that idea, I also know that we incredibly overthink it. The key
word here is “world”. We think that because our change has to be felt on a
global scale, that our small and seemingly insignificant actions will never be
enough to reach that magnitude. The number one thing that we have to understand
though, is that change comes in all shapes and sizes, and we will never truly
be able to measure the effects of our actions, because we will never know how
many people they will ultimately reach. For the people who think that they have
nothing of substance to contribute, or not enough to create a big impact, I
want to emphasize this: We all have our personal stories, and they matter more
than we will ever know.
Our stories and backgrounds are sacred
gifts that we share with each other every day, but we tend to overlook the
immense power that they hold. By sharing our unique perspectives on the world,
we are unknowingly creating change, and encouraging others to do the same. More
importantly, the way we handle our struggles plays a vital role in our fight
for change, because we have the ability (remember, it’s our choice) to harness
those conflicts and pains into positive and resilient lessons that help others
who are fighting through similar endeavors.
Personally, I have a very uncommon and
beautiful narrative to share, and this community, among others, has helped me
figure out where I want to go from here. I moved to Austin from South Africa in
2010, where I had been home-schooled with my four siblings up until the fourth
grade. My mother gave me the gift of bilingualism in Spanish due to her
upbringing in the Dominican Republic, and one of the most important lessons
that I have learned so far came from my father when he told me that learning a
different language should primarily be for the purpose of listening to and
understanding other people’s life stories and cultures, and not merely for the
privilege of sharing my own. Fast forward to my most recent years, because my
life didn’t have enough excitement in it, I had to spice it up by developing
chronic health issues. For the longest time, I was desperately trying to figure
out how all of these contrasting pieces of my life fit together, and more
importantly, how I could use them to help others. I wanted to combine all of my
life experiences into one career or one action, and that was where I became
lost. Throughout the process of applying to schools, picking my major, and
writing essays, I started to believe that I would never be able to work through
my passion, because everything felt so spread out and there was increasing
pressure to just pick something and “go with it.” At some point, a switch
inside me was flipped and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of power. It
was the power that I could do anything I wanted to in the future, and if I felt
like I wanted to bring about change through Spanish, South Africa, and
Medicine, I could. There is no rule book for changing the world, and it comes
in many different forms. This church community has been a role model for me to
see what it looks like to be a facilitator of change. My youth group has
fostered my desire to care for others, while bringing that to real life on
mission trips and service projects. I am so grateful that I am surrounded by
fellow world-changers, and I would like to say thank you to my church family
for raising me to be a young adult who seeks to serve others and initiate
change through love and compassion.
Lastly, I had the honor and privilege of
going to see Michelle Obama when she came to Austin this week, and although I
received an abundance of love and advice from her speaking, one of the quotes
from her book has stuck with me the longest. She says that you have to “find
your flame and keep it lit”. Although this is a message for everyone and
anyone, I feel that young people such as me, need it the most. With so many
difficult and confusing decisions to make, it can get harder and harder to
figure out what lights up the fire within you. I feel very fortunate to already
have some knowledge as to what my flame is, but I know that it will take
continuous effort to keep it strong, and I am looking forward to that journey.
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