photo: Ampersand100/ BY-NC

The following commentary originally aired on WABE-FM, Atlanta.

By Kate Lewis

No one says it better than the poet, Mary Oliver with her powerful prose, stating, "I don't want to end up simply having visited this world." I didn't like the quote at first. I thought it was arrogant. But I was only focusing on the big picture.

Last year, I attended the Outdoor Academy, a semester school in Western North Carolina. It was high school without the standard high school dynamic. We abandoned our labels and we saw ourselves and each other for who were. It was a small community of teachers and students where we built a strong bond. My math teacher would assign us homework, and not take it up, and he would trust that we did it - because we did do it.

Since coming home, I have developed a more positive view towards life: I started my own vegetable garden and I have plans to graduate early and travel across the country. Now the words of poet Mary Oliver make sense to me. It’s not arrogant to refuse to be just a visitor in the world. I realize I don’t need celebrity status to have a positive impact. Just by living my life well, doing what I think is right and being true to my beliefs can change the people around me, and that can have a wide ripple effect.