Planting the Seeds for Human Rights

A week from today, I was given the opportunity to attend an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The celebration of an event like this stems from the fact that world leaders, living in the aftermath of World War II, were able to recognize the atrocities that unfolded from a disregard of basic human rights. In 1948, they immortalized these concerns in the declaration which included a list of concise, but nevertheless all-inclusive, basic freedoms that every human being should have. The physical document thus, became a catalyst for human rights preservation for communities all around the world.  Fast-forward to 2018 and these freedoms still retain their importance in societies that experience human rights atrocities. However, a common misbelief regarding universal human rights is that the individual is unable to make an impact towards a better future because the issue affects communities far away from our own. Ryan Kaminski, the manager of human rights for the US's branch in the United Nations Association, came to Poly to dissipate that misconception. His optimistic views for a better tomorrow stemmed from the idea that if every individual around the world made an effort to tackle an issue of human rights or one of the sustainable goals set by the UN in their community, universal human rights could become a reality. In his presentation, he provided us the platform of contacting our UNA representative to share our concerns with our communities and to enact change in legislation to protect human rights. As the presentation came to an end, we thanked Mr. Kaminski for his time and expressed our concern for human rights through creating origami lotus flowers. These flowers were to symbolize the inevitable progress towards human rights in any and every community around the world. This event for me was successful in relieving the concerns I had for the connection between a desire for a world with human rights and a pragmatic approach to turn this desire into a reality. Seeing figures like Ryan dedicating their entire lives towards bridging the gap between utopia and reality, I became all the more hopeful. The event also allowed me to take a step back from what now seemed like trivial stresses about the college application process. It gave me clarity, in the sense that wherever I ended up would not change my views on the world and would not prevent me from upholding these beliefs.