People=People

When I think of my childhood, as in elementary school, I imagine myself walking through crowds of students and not having any room to breathe. I would have to physically lift my head 180 degrees just for some fresh air. I’d always been pretty short and as a kindergartener, you could say majority was taller than me. With the quality of being short also came the feeling of powerlessness. Everyone is just so much bigger than you that you can’t help but feel so small sometimes. 

That’s why when I read “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau in my English class, I was kinda enlightened. He talks about how everyone has their own moral conscience, and how everyone should act on it and trust their inner sense of justice. Following your thoughts and conscience is a way to assert the power you hold over your own life. This made me think about how everyone has control over themselves and has a voice. We all have the option, for ourselves, to stand up for what we believe in, and this asserts our collective power. Physical features, like height, don’t determine the strength we hold or our capabilities.

Moral conscience as an equalizer is emphasized in Thoreau’s piece. Everyone has the ability regardless of physical characteristics and social status, and you should not let anything make you feel otherwise. I’ve now come to realize that while I might be physically small, my mental prowess and my ability to assert myself is a quality that contributes to a positive change in society. All of us are fundamentally equal, and none of us should feel the opposite.