Finalist - Juliana Chavez, Age 26

Welcome to our Optimistic Essay category. Here you will find the $1,000 winning contest essay, 5 finalist essays and 15 honorable mention essays and a growing list of hand-picked select essays that readers submitted during our "Why Are You Optimistic About the Future?" contest.

Stories of the "good ol' days" seem more like history lessons now that this generation of people are far into their twilight years or have long since passed. These were the years in the early to mid 1900's where only the upper middle class and richer owned television sets and automobiles. Crime was something that only happened in "those big cities." In today's melting pot society, we have to ask ourselves who exactly were those the "good ol' days" for? We know in the midst of a growing fad for gadgets of the future and trends in clothing and interior design becoming essentials, there were huge struggles with racial equality and awareness. Information was limited because of relatively poor communication tools. With today's increasingly innovative technology, we are more informed of worldly news, which raises our awareness of other cultures never thought of by our great-grandparents. In the past, news was very selective. We were not informed of every helicopter crash or roadside bombing in wars passed as we are today. Now, we are kept informed to the hour of every happening in and out of this world, good and bad. Though it seems as if the state of the world took a nose dive in recent years, I believe we have always been and will continue on the rise to a great future.

Equal rights have brought about many positive changes to our society. Higher education for all means everyone is entitled to a good job and a comfortable life. Equal opportunity employment has eased the stress of finding work for all minorities, being qualified based on our abilities rather than race or gender. A strong, able woman can work in a warehouse, a smart black man can be a lawyer, and an opinionated Hispanic can be a congressman. We may not notice, but propriety has always held its place in defining a culture. Long gone are the days when it was acceptable to address and be addressed as "boy" or "gal", regardless whether they were our elders or one of the few minorities who held a respectable job. More so today, our children are taught to live by the Golden Rule and treat others as they want to be treated. More schools today teach children they will only get a response if they use words of respect like "Sir" and 'Ma'am", "please" and "thank you", and of course we all remember "may I" as opposed to "can I".

Technology by far has been the greatest contributor to an easy and more comfortable future. Little do we realize, in the two-hundred years of the United States, only enough time has passed for six generations of children by today's traditional family definition. This means many of us still have relatives in our native countries, raising the demand for faster international communication. We can now do just about anything through a computer. With the internet, we are able to shop for just about anything on earth, even space if you want to buy a star or purchase real estate on the moon. Ordering take-out online is easier than driving. Most importantly, we can keep in touch with loved ones who are literally on the other side of the world.

Travel to just about anywhere on earth has become more affordable and possible for almost everyone. With all the innovations in travel, it possible to learn about vast cultures in a single lifetime, and discover the humanity of so many people who were once shunned out of ignorance. With so much awareness in the diversity of cultures and people in general, we can all have a more educated opinion in what the best decisions are for our society and its future. School systems have greatly improved their curriculum compared to just twenty years ago, law enforcement has greatly increased in count and quality, rather than recruitment based on minimal ability, and aide availability in all its forms, medical, financial, educational, etcetera, has undoubtedly made life easier for many in our growing population.

If you ask one-hundred people what a better life would mean, you will no doubt get one-hundred different answers. To live, a person needs food, air, exercise, rest, and love. Each day, the people of our world strive to make each one of these things better and easier to come by. The culinary arts, yoga, and Dr. Phil are all examples of resources we use to achieve happiness. Tomorrow, someone will introduce a new way to improve our lives. Seeing that mankind's main focus has always been the improvement of living, I can only conclude that we have always been and continue on the rise to a great future.