"With one kind gesture you can change a life. One person at a time you can change the world. One day at a time we can change everything" (Dr. Steve Maraboli).

As I embark on my last year and a half in college, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my life and the events, choices, and experiences that have led me to where I am today. In my thoughts, there are some good and bad experiences that I believe have helped to shape me and make me who I am. While thinking about these experiences, I thought about how it really takes just one “event/ decision/ situation/ etc.” to change everything. Though I will talk about my own experiences throughout this article and how they have impacted me, I think that everyone should be able to find a similar experience they’ve gone through and the change it created within their lives, whether it be a job, a relationship, college, or other general life experiences. I also think it is important for me within this article to acknowledge certain people who have helped with some of these experiences, as without the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve built, I wouldn’t be half the person that I am today. I am an incredibly lucky person, and I wouldn’t ever change the experiences that I’ve gone through as they’ve made me who I am.

“I love the person I’ve become, because I fought to become her” (Kaci Diane).

When I was in high school, the unofficial school motto was “It takes just one.” (Shout out to Neenah High School, this was a super awesome message to send to high schoolers). At the time, it was meant to be a positive, motivating statement; it takes just one person to make a positive difference. I strongly agree with this idea, I genuinely believe that one person can make a difference and that MANY times this influence is positive and beneficial. On the other hand, however, it also takes just one to have a negative influence and harm others. Perhaps if people were to keep this in mind, as well, we could work to be more mindful and kind towards others. Through my experiences that I will now delve into, I hope to show the strong influences that we can have over others, and how to use that influence only to help.

It takes just one hurtful comment to bring people down. This past summer, I was attending a music festival in my hometown. While I was there, I saw a past coach and teacher. Through a conversation with a friend, I came to understand that he had called me “a mean girl” to other people in attendance. Remember the popular nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,”? As much as I would like to say that’s true and that I was able to brush that comment off, I just couldn’t. People can protest as much as they’d like and say they’re tough, but, in all honesty, people are pretty fragile beings, and hurtful comments do exactly that- HURT. Another example of this occurred while I was in sixth grade; I had attended an after-school party with some friends. At the party, one of my friends got mad and in turn called me a whore. Let’s just think about that. In sixth grade, I hadn’t even kissed a boy. I don’t think I had even held hands with a boy, yet, I was labelled as a whore. How can that be? How could I deserve that identification? When we use derogatory terms to define others: slut, whore, fag, trailer trash, stupid, feminazi, snowflake, and I’m sure you can think of others, we take away from their self-definitions, their self-confidence, and their self-worth. It is not up to any of us to create a negative label for others based off of personal opinions. The people that we so easily and casually can label, often don’t fit that label and these labels only serve one purpose: to hurt. With more thought to the words that we use to describe and talk to others, perhaps we can instead choose to help and support.

If I may, it takes just one kind comment to bring people up. Recently, I decided to tackle the project of painting a friend’s office. He was very laidback and casual throughout the process; he gave me free reign to paint what I’d like, no big deal. (Hi Nick) Right. Being myself, I stressed about this task more than I really needed to; I worried that it would look bad, I worried he would hate it, I worried that other coworkers in the office area would hate it. While I understood that an ugly office wouldn’t be the end of the world for anyone, it still felt important. As I painted, every single day that I was there, one of my bosses took the time to stop in every day and make a kind comment regarding how it looked (I like that color, the stripe was a nice addition, etc.). (Shout out to Carrie Walkup). It took about 15 seconds for her to completely validate the work I was doing, and her kind comments made me feel so much better. It takes just one kind comment to lift others up.

It takes just one child to change your life. When I was 15, I started volunteering with the summer camp, Camp Hope. Camp Hope is a two-week day camp for children ages 6-15 with cognitive and/or physical disabilities. I was fairly nervous my first day, and as such, didn’t originally commit to too many hours that first summer. I, however, ended up going back every single day. Camp Hope taught me so much about love, kindness, and gratefulness. The things that make us different are the things that make us US, and who is to define one different as better than another? Through Camp Hope, I have been lucky enough to develop relationships with many different children, all who have helped me to understand more about happiness and love. It takes just one child to change your life.

It takes just one interview. Almost two years ago, I had a phone interview with my current boss, whom I also like to consider a friend. (Hi Marnie Spielbauer!!) I was interviewing for the position I accepted and still fulfill in the summers, a Camp Onaway lifeguard. I had never gone to Onaway as a kid, and I had absolutely no idea how much it would come to mean to me. Through Camp Onaway I have learned amazing new skills (I’ve re-carpeted our floating rafts, I learned how to scrape zebra mussels off our wooden dock with a paint scraper, I painted my own screen door, and many more) and I’ve made amazing relationships with SO many important people to me. I can now consider Camp Onaway my home, and I hope that through my years I can give back to Camp and show that island the same love it has given me. It takes just one interview.

It takes just one professor. At Winona State University, I was lucky enough to declare a major my first semester, and through such, I was introduced to the Chair of the department. (Shout out to Professor Roger Riley). This professor has encouraged me to apply for many scholarships (some of which I’ve received!), written countless letters of recommendation for me, spent probably hours editing and improving my papers and projects, and has massively helped me to be successful in college. Having a professor who genuinely believes in and supports students creates the most successful and important environment for students. It takes just one professor.

On the same note, it takes just one teacher. In middle school, I took an introductory course to foreign languages, and I was lucky enough to make a connection with one of those teachers. (Shout out to Madame Erin Meilhon!!) Throughout middle school and high school, I was able to complete five full years of French language education. Learning a foreign language was so beneficial to me, and I was so happy to learn about one that I enjoyed so much. Teachers who are able to connect with students and create motivating and successful atmospheres are the reason that there are so many smart people in the world. Without teachers, the world would never improve. It takes just one teacher.

It takes just one recruiter. A little over a year ago, I went on a camping trip with class. When I was on this camping trip, there was a recruiter for Pacific Challenge (Shout out to Tyler McConnell) along. I didn’t know anyone on the trip prior to going, but I had an amazing time (I mean, we went rock climbing and white water rafting, how could it have been a bad experience?) and made some pretty great friends due to it. Perhaps the most life-changing takeaway from this trip, however, was a conversation I had with the recruiter. While we were driving back to Winona, he asked why I wasn’t going on the study abroad trip to New Zealand and Australia, designed for Business and RTTR majors (of which I am both). At his prompting, I realized that I didn’t really have a reason to not go. Due to this conversation, I took to the idea of the trip, and started the process of getting signed up. I never ever could have guessed how much that trip and all of my experiences would come to mean to me. It takes just one recruiter.

Related, it takes just one trip leader. Upon completing the trip, I didn’t want to go home. I actually spent an extra month or so travelling around New Zealand with a friend (Hi Cam Render!), and had some of the best experiences of my entire life (definitely not an exaggeration). Once I returned to the US, I thought about how much I wanted to go back. I immediately began talking with my trip leader (Shout out to Professor Dave Wright), figuring how I could go back again. Through our conversations, we decided that in the spring of 2019 I would be able to once again return, this time as an intern for the same trip I was lucky enough to go on. Without the help and encouragement from this trip leader, there’s no way I would ever have this opportunity or be confident enough to take it. It takes just one trip leader.

It takes just one person. It takes one person to make a difference. It takes one person to influence others’ lives. In my case, I’m lucky to have so many people. I have people who have completely changed my life path, and I could not be more grateful. It takes just one person (or one entire group of influential and important people). ;)

It takes just one. These may be just my experiences, but I’m sure that anyone could come up with a situation or experience within their own life when it took just one of something to completely change their life. While “it takes just one” can mean it takes just one to make a positive difference, keep in mind that “it takes just one” to make a negative one, too, and try to act with mindfulness, kindness, and graciousness in every aspect of life. It takes just one.