People come and go, but words stay forever.

Things said can be either from a friend or a foe, but those words do have power. Mr. Juan Davila, a teacher at EHS, sees its effects every day in his class environment.“That is completely true; it’s upsetting sometimes,” he admits, “but what students say to each other can be a good thing, too.”

Since humans were created, the first thing learned has always been language. Each word, phrase, or a whole speech spoken is a form of communication. Some may say there is too much of it–especially at this point of time, when people say and post so much that their message gets lost in the noise. Davila agrees in part. “Yes, absolutely! My classes just love chatter; they go and go until they get tired.” Yet, Davila sees the value behind productive chatter. “They are all interesting…to hear different views. So,” he continues, “I don’t mind semi-adult conversations as long as they are not offending one another.” Davila can only speak of his classes, though. 

Other people may argue that words can hurt a lot, forgetting that words can also be wondrous and beautiful. All books and articles that people have read–or anything being read or sung about–is because someone had the courage to put his or her own words out into the world for everyone to hear and listen to. Just think: If everyone in the world put his or her two cents in on an important topic, then out of that could be a solution to so many disastrous situations–if only people would be willing to listen. Even if only half the population said one–just one–encouraging statement to someone or on some situation, think how much the world would benefit from it. Remember, there are more than 7 billion people in the world, according to Google. Just think about the positive impact 3.5 billion productive statements could make each day!

There are a billion ways to accomplish that, as well. Conversations can help someone.  Start a movement. Or, even simply try to understand certain points of view that seem to make no sense at first. Being closed off, feeling as if no one will speak to the other, is an upsetting state to exist in. But, it can be stopped as long as someone takes that one step–that one “leap of faith.” Trust in one’s own power to effect change through words– not pixie dust–in the hope of creating a start of something new. Just one person can do this himself, starting now.

So, who’s next? What’s next? Who’s ready to take the leap? It’s time to speak up and speak out in a powerful way.