Select Entry- Jeni Church, Age 24

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.

"You can be a part of the problem, or you can be a part of the solution." As a child, I remember wondering who would want to be a part of the problem. As an adult, the barrage of negative media has me wondering who will be a part of the solution. Every new day brings with it new threats and dangers. People lose sleep worrying that their breakfast cereal may cause cancer or that their neighbors may be terrorists. The past is full of definites - it is history, set in stone. Try as we might, it cannot be changed. The future is infinite, indefinite - a pliable ball of clay full of possibilities. It needs only a vision and the touch of a willing hand.

In each of us, there is a potter. Some are novices, others, skilled and patient masters. Regardless of our ability, we each have pieces cast aside - pieces broken and marred with imperfection. Sometimes it is these pieces, these experiences that teach us the most and have the greatest impact. Having a somewhat impatient nature, I could fill galleries with shards and remnants. I have big dreams of a world without suffering and want - I never thought Miss America wishing for "world peace" was such a far-off notion. I still hold the same wondrous dreams I did as a child, but age has given me the wisdom to not simply place such fragile ideas upon an unsteady base of hopes and wishes. Rather, something truly beautiful, remarkable can only be built on a strong foundation of hard work, determination, and will. It all begins with a vision, but without a hand to mold it, the clay dries, rendered useless. No change is made, no mark is left.

It is the idea of the potter within that fills me with optimism for a better tomorrow. I have thrown my share of clay. I have spent small eternities hunch-backed over the wheel, hands dried and cracking, only to have my work come to nothing and shatter. Still, everyday I come back, whether to a half-formed pot or a new ball of clay. There are many things in life that we cannot control, but there are so many more that we can. The skill and patience of a master hand come from persistence. By returning to meet my challenges daily, to take on the wolrd, I can make a difference in my life and the lives of others. I may only be a part of the solution, but I refuse to be a part of the problem.