When I was born I had many decisions already made for me like my name, the members in my family (or lack thereof), where I lived, but not who I would become. This chapter focused on the bigger picture of life, which is to live to help others. Most get so caught up with their routinely schedules that they forget what is important.
- I admit, I am one of those people.

Managing full time at my work and being a full-time student (this sentence is a good example of how my priorities are not straight, work before school) can be stressful. But I look to my future and encourage myself that I am making my path to “discovering my soul in the world,” as Thomas Moore finely said. I don’t want to get caught up in a 9 to 5 not doing something I am deeply passionate about.

I decided to compare the results of the different reactions from my other honors class and my regular communications class at GCC. The people I sat with in my honor’s meteorology class pretty much agreed with my view (actually Loeb’s view) and had been involved with community service before. One lady that is a mother explained to me how she is getting her two children into volunteering at their young ages for them to understand the importance of helping others. When I said Loeb’s quote to a few students around me in my communications class, I got a different opinion. One student completely shut me down. He explained how it is not anyone’s responsibility to fix the problems except for the person that caused them. I was shocked! I honestly could not see how he viewed helping other. I think that he is a prime example of what Loeb was trying to get across. The last four words he states: “we’d prefer to ignore.” We cannot ignore the problems of our community, our country, or our world. Life is full of pessimistic minds, but there are a lot of us optimists who are willing to fill their glasses up for them.