While growing up you never realize how important your view of yourself can be. I always knew I liked being a certain way, and that I was good at doing certain things, but me? I didn’t know how to view myself. Throughout my time at One Stone I have been pushed to ask that question many times, and I will never know if I am right but at least I tried. I have a sense of self that I never had before. My name is Kaleb Churchwell, I am a student attending One Stone’s Lab51, I am an artist, a people person, a sister, and a friend. I work to see others as they are and who they want to be, highlighting friendships, and working to push the boundaries of my creativity. Here is my vision statement: a way for me to guide myself with my morals and true intentions throughout my time on this earth. This statement reads: “Serving with passion. Leading with promise. Loving with purpose.” In my opinion, to be able to do good in your community you also have to do good for yourself. This can be small, impact seems like such a complex feeling to inflict, but even a smile can have an impact. We live in a world where you have to share what you did, where it has to be big, blingy almost to seem important, but I don’t believe in that. Doing good for yourself impacts others, taking time to share your passion, doing what you believe in, letting your moral guide you, that can be your way of “doing good.” The artifact I chose to share is an essay I wrote for the NIH Brain Initiative Competition: Considering Ethics During Brain Technology Development. I chose this because even an opinion, a chance to share your side of the story can make an impact on how the world evolves. A lot of people feel like they will never be able to have an opinion on such a complicated issue, but I said “Why not? What's the worst that could happen, they don't agree with what I said? Well at least I made them think.” Sometimes that's all you can do, the more questions you ask, the more chances you have to make a difference. The way you do good should never be put in a box! Explore your passion, share your voice, and make people think.
