Blogs from Ánimo HS
All this week, we’ve been featuring the Hope Journals from our newest Community Listeners from Ánimo High School in South Los Angeles. To complement those journals, we’ve asked the students to share a bit about their experience. At The Hope Chronicles, we seek to share two very interconnected stories: the honest hopes of the people around us and the stories of how our Community Listeners personally change after hearing these hopes. Here’s an eye-opening look at what’s going on in the minds of these students.
Kimberley’s Story:
I believe the Hope Chronicles have helped me become more aware of society. This project has help me understand how even the strongest looking people have selfless hopes and dreams. I have also come to realize that society has good intentions, and people are actually crying out for help. The Hope Chronicles have made me have a better understanding of hope. I used to feel that looking out for yourself was important, but looking out for your community is also essential. In order to prosper, you must have a bright environment, and The Hope Chronicles is a way to give my community a voice in order to someday acquire change.
Read more stories after the jump.
Diana’s Story:
It was very hard for me to believe that some people had a hard time answering the question, “What do you hope for?” I thought it would be a simple question, but then it was my turn to answer it.
Then, I understood. It is difficult to answer.
I sat there staring at the book, pondering what I would write. I thought about myself and I wrote in someone else’s journal, “I hope not to become a disappointment to my family.” In my head, I also thought about other people, for example, the homeless who are left alone with no food or shelter. “I hope for all of the homeless people to receive the help they need.” I now understand the people I talked to. I had to leave the journal with them because their answer didn’t seem to come into their heads very fast.
I think it is amazing how people are taking the question very seriously. Before someone began to write they asked questions like, “Can I hope for anything? Or what do you mean?” The responses were very honest and sincere.
I found it incredible how a small question could bring so many thoughts to mind.
America’s Story:
Before I started this project, hope for me was like a fantasy. Hope for me was like a cover up for when I said something that I did not mean. I would often use it to show I cared when I really didn’t. Hope really was not something I would think about often.
Now, hope is a whole different meaning. I think of hope as a push to get where you want to get. Hope is inspiration. I realize that when you really think about something it has meaning. Hope is different for everyone. The meaning it has to others can be opposite of what you expect. Hope is a strong word that has innumerable meanings.
Now, hope is life, future, and family. Hope is like setting a goal but with emotions in it, something you will not easily forget about. When you hope for something you actually mean it, and when you are writing down your hope it makes you feel like a little kid, excited and anxious. When I wrote down my hope I really had to think about it. I decided to make mine broad. I wanted something that would benefit others and people in future generations. It feels good to want to change something and have people agree with you and want to help out. I discovered that hope is something we want to accomplish in our life even if it seems impossible.
I personally have changed because of this project. I look at everyone different. I know that everyone has hope even if they seem to have the world under control they still have a hope. I now hope for my future. I see people and wonder what their hope is. I have changed in the way that no I observe others trying to figure them out. I do not judge people by the way they look. I stop and think of what they might want in their future. I know that everyone wants to be better at something, wants to find something, or at least be something in life. I want to be someone in life I hope to find someone and mostly I want to be better at understanding myself. This project has helped discover who I am and what the meaning of life really is to me. I have discovered what I want to do with my life and how to get there. I now know who I am.
Tags: animo, change, community, future, listen