QUALITY OF LIFE WINNING ESSAYS
2010 - Kathryn Knuttila -
"Inspiring America - Celebrating the Good in Your Neighborhood"
Quality of Life Essay
1. How do you serve your community? How has your work improved the quality of life for others?
When I was young, my father instilled in me the idea that I was a natural born leader with a servant heart and God-given gifts that I was to use for the benefit of others. Now as a young adult, I more fully realize the powerful impact I can have on others as a true leader with a servant spirit. The first time I volunteered I was ten and went to the nursing home to play piano. The mutual joy we experienced led to regular visits for the next 4 years. God provided me the gift of music, which has allowed me to serve in many ways in my church and community. This led to my nomination as an ‘Inspiring Person’ for the local television show “Inspiring People” where my service work was highlighted. I was thanked for being an example to others by inspiring them to use their own gifts and talents. This concept became a catalyst for serving in a bigger way starting with workshops I hosted for children called “The Art of Performance.” Thus, my organization Inspiring America was created to recognize and honor those who make a difference in their communities via the website www.whohasinspiredyou.com and community concerts. This has developed into a “pay it forward” affect because not only did I improve the quality of life for others with my gifts and talents, but I can share inspiring stories of others using their gifts. This has taught me the true meaning of being a servant leader by both setting an example for others with my actions and also acknowledging others that do good works as well.
2. What does integrity mean to you? How would others describe how your life exemplifies integrity?
As a woman who places abundant emphasis on strong character, moral principles, and integrity, I know that others will consistently expect me to be a woman who is dependable, accountable, approachable, trustworthy, and willing to stand up for what is right even if it is not “in.” As a piano teacher, music director, student, title holder, and leader, expectations are high with all eyes are on me to set a good example. In all of my roles, the way I interact with others defines my quality of life. What I put into relationships reaps its own reward. As a young person of integrity, I strive to act with genuine care, kindness, fairness and honesty. I wish to treat everyone for who they are, with all their inherent dignity as fellow children of God. I am so grateful for all of the many powerful witnesses of integrity and service who have helped shape me into the young woman I am today.
3. Describe a situation of adversity that you have faced and how you have used that situation to positively impact the world around you.
Two and a half years ago, I was a victim of rape--this situation of adversity took strength far beyond my own to overcome. As I did, I was able to apply a philosophy I once heard from an Inspiring American, “Our circumstances are not to be prisons, but rather serve as vehicles to do great things.” This was a tremendous struggle that drastically compromised my feelings of self-worth and value. With time and continued service work for Inspiring America, I came to recognize that we have all faced some form of adversity. It is how we overcome our adversity that becomes our true test of strength. I remember meeting with a mother, nominated as an Inspiring American, who had a daughter Mauve, who was blind, deaf, autistic and had ADHD. Recognizing the constant battle she must deal with, I asked her how she does it every day. She replied, “You just do. God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.” I believe that God doesn’t want bad things to happen to us, but allows them so we can use them for good. Through the help of many, I decided to share my story in the hope that others could also receive the help and strength they need to overcome adversity in their own lives. I have spoken to many schools on my personal platform of Inspiring America where I can encourage children to make a difference in their schools and communities. Sharing my personal story shows that no matter what the students are going through, they have a choice to overcome that adversity with an inspiring strength, or hide and not let their gifts and talents shine through. In serving others, we cannot only be victorious, but also know we are not alone in this world. I feel stronger than ever and will continue using my experience to positively impact the world.
4. Describe what creates “quality” in your own life.
While some believe that quality in life is determined by what you have, the quality in my life is solely determined by who I am and the way I treat others. I grew up with parents who instilled strong moral principles and expected me to daily live out the golden rule. My family was very involved with our church and community and I was taught to use my God-given gifts for the benefit of others. This has shaped my “quality of life” greatly. Developing healthy relationships has also been key to my quality of life. I seek to surround myself with positive people who lift me up which in turn allows me to be that same positive influence for others around me. I look to see the good in everyone around me because my quality of life is partially dependent on how I make others feel. Taking pride in the work I do is also crucial to my quality of life. I believe it is important to take pride in your work and working as hard as you possibly can. That way I have no regrets no matter what the outcome. The work I do defines the kind of person I am, and strengthens my integrity. Always acting with integrity brings a greater quality in my life.
5. How do you plan to make service a long-term commitment in your life?
Acting as a servant is far from just a mission that correlates to the year I spend as a titleholder, but rather is something that I would describe as one of my primary purposes in life. There are numerous ways I have been able to serve others through the years and because of the great joy and fulfillment I have both witnessed and received myself, I know my current service work will be a lifelong pursuit. On April 8, 2010, I produced, directed and hosted the second “Night of Inspiration” concert to inspire and raise funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. Wrapped in the midst of musical entertainment, stories of inspiring Americans, including families from Gillette Children’s Hospital, were shared with the audience. These concerts have allowed me to combine my service work and musical skills to benefit others, and will be something I continue doing throughout my life. I hope to help and inspire others to rise above any adversity they face and realize the true quality of life. It’s a life-long commitment to be of service to others in all that you do. Whether I am directing workshops or choir practice, providing free entertainment at benefit functions or going out of my way to be a helper and friend to the many children I work with, I strive to be a caring and positive influence in the lives I touch. I know that being a servant leader is my call and mission in life. I am most fully myself when I am being a servant to others.
2009 - Quinn Nystrom - "Diabetes Nation: Join the Movement"
1. How do you serve your community? How has your work improved the quality of life for others? I committed myself to finding a cure for diabetes when I was 11 years old. My little brother had just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I put together a team to participate in the American Diabetes Association’s Walk for Diabetes and won top honors for fundraising. Two years later, I was also diagnosed with diabetes. Once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I decided to fight back. I organized a Diabetes Awareness Week for our community and wrote a grant to bring in a national expert on diabetes. When I was l5, I received the prestigious “Star Award” from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) for my fundraising achievements, becoming their youngest award winner ever. Team Nystrom has been a top ADA fundraiser for l2 years and will bike in a 26 mile diabetes marathon June 6th in the Twin Cities.
I was selected as the American Diabetes Association’s National Youth Advocate at age l6, a highly visible national volunteer position. I spent a year traveling across the country to diabetes camps, convention halls and the United States Congress. My message was simple. We must do whatever we can to find a cure for diabetes and provide care and support for the millions of people living with disease. I was even invited to the White House.
In college, I organized diabetes fundraisers, spoke to school children and counseled newly diagnosed diabetics. For the last six years, I have been a leadership trainer for “Call to Congress,” an ADA event which brings people to Washington, D.C. to lobby for diabetes.
This year I created an on-line community, www.DiabetesNation.net, where young diabetics can connect with each other for encouragement and support. It’s just one aspect of Diabetes Nation which brings together the health care community, schools and the ADA.
2. What does integrity mean to you? How would others describe how your life exemplifies integrity?
Integrity is a consistency between what you say and what you do. I am one of the lucky ones. When I was eleven years old I found my life’s purpose and passion, to help find a cure for diabetes. As I struggled through high school chemistry, I realized that I was never going to be the scientist who discovered the cure. But I could develop my communication skills to lobby for legislation to help fund a cure and provide help for the 23 million Americans living with diabetes. In college I majored in public relations and political science with the hope of a career in diabetes advocacy.
The summer before my senior year of college, I was offered a prestigious internship with AXA Equitable, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in New York City. Working in the competitive private sector was exciting and challenging. I returned to college and graduated with honors last May. Then the real work began to find a job in a very difficult economy. AXA offered me a full time position in New York City with a generous salary, an enviable title and a promise of promotions. My college advisor urged me to take it. So did everyone else. It was tempting but I turned down the job because it was not consistent with my commitment to diabetes advocacy. I knew that I was not passionate about life insurance. I was passionate about finding a cure for diabetes. Three months later I was offered a position to travel around the country educating pharmacists on how to better care for their diabetic patients. Purpose is much more important to me than pay and prestige. Diabetes remains at the top of my agenda in all areas of life
3. Describe what creates “quality” in your own life.
When I was l3 years old, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I thought my life was over before it ever began. Diabetes had ruined all of my hopes and dreams. But I soon realized that I had a choice to make. Despite the circumstances, I was the only person who could determine my quality of life.
In the past 12 years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing my struggle of living with diabetes with over 125,000 people. It has been a joy and an honor to come along side other young people trying to figure out how to live life with a chronic illness.
Two years ago I got a call about a young girl who had just been diagnosed with diabetes. Jen was 13 years old, the same age I was when I was diagnosed. I contacted Jen and asked if she wanted to get together and talk. She was really struggling. I could relate because I had been there. Jen confessed that she was self mutilating, cutting herself on her arms and legs because the physical pain somehow eased the inner pain she was feeling about having to live with an incurable disease. Jen and I started to email back and forth. Every time I was home from college, I would meet her for lunch and talk about how we were coping with diabetes. Last year Jen decided to check into a hospital to get help for her emotional issues. I had lunch with Jen over Easter break this year. She is a healthy, happy 16-year old girl. We talked about boys, schools and boys. She still has diabetes and so do I, but the disease cannot determine the quality of our lives unless we allow it that power.
4. How do you plan to make service a long-term commitment in your life?
Diabetes is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. It is also the best thing. It has given my life focus and purpose. I have also had incredible opportunities to spread a message of hope and courage to the 23 million Americans living with diabetes. I met many famous people during my year-long adventure as the American Diabetes Association’s National Youth Advocate. But the most important people I met were the thousands of boys and girls living with diabetes. They inspired me with their courage and strength.
At a diabetes camp in Shickshinny, Pennsylvania, a young boy raised his hand with a question after my speech. He wanted to know if I was happy I had diabetes. I was shocked. Who in the world would ever want an incurable, chronic disease? But his question helped me realize how much diabetes has enriched my life. I consider myself blessed in so many ways. I knew from a young age what the major challenges would be in my life. I know that my days are numbered. I have a limited amount of days and years to accomplish the work I’ve chosen. This has helped me make the most of my time and to concentrate on the important things. I don’t have the time or energy to stress out over the little things in life.
I know the fight to find a cure for diabetes is formidable. Some may think it is impossible. But I won’t stop fighting until a cure is found for diabetes. This disease may shorten my life but it does not have the power to diminish it.
2008 - Tara's Winning Essay - "Living Greener, Thinking Cleaner":
I’m sure my kindergarten bus driver thought I was one of the more unique children on her route because at the end of each school day, I would pack up the refuse from the back of the bus and bring it home to recycle. I did this daily, not because it was enjoyable, but because nobody else did it. The bottles would have otherwise been thrown away, and although I had a shaky grasp on biology and resource consumption at the time, I had seen landfills and I knew they didn’t need to grow any larger. My interest and concern for the environment was planted in me by my parents; they brought me outdoors on trail rides and camping trips and showed me what I would have otherwise missed. All of my life they have taught me how to turn environmental concerns into action; beyond donating their money to environmental groups, my brothers and I constantly heard refrains from our caretakers to recycle, to consider what we bought, and to compost. Because of their teachings, there was never any question in my mind that our earth must be cared for lovingly and treated with the utmost respect. As I grew, I carried these morals into adulthood and created my platform, Thinking Greener, Living Cleaner to help spread awareness and promote thought about what’s happening to our environment and what we can do to improve the situation.
To help spread my message I have worked with several environmental organizations, including the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) and the Jeffers Foundation. Along with other members of MPIRG, I have organized a successful competition on my college campus to reduce energy consumption. In February, students learned and practiced energy- saving habits to help their residence halls attempt to use the least amount of energy per capita and gain bragging rights. To help lead my dorm to victory in this competition, I formed a group of students who agreed to unplug unused appliances and turn down the heat. We have also nearly abolished the use of plastic water bottles on campus by providing better-tasting, free alternatives and reusable bottles to all students. We’ve cleaned up garbage, started a compost program for tons of wasted food on the U of M campus, and helped to make environmental stewardship a community goal. Because of my strong participation and leadership in this group I have been nominated as the Environmental Branch Leader for next year to continue to organize, excite, and help students to act green. Currently, I’m working with the Jeffers Foundation to design elementary school curriculum that involves learning about our earth and incorporates graduation requirements for the students.
On a more personal level, I have spoken to groups of all ages from kindergarteners to rotary clubs to spread awareness about the little steps we can take to create a cleaner lifestyle. I have also promoted clean energy bills at the state capitol, helped recycle tons of toxic electronics used by the Morris community, and initiated an outreach program for college students to visit elementary schools in an effort to explain the importance of taking care of our earth. In addition, I helped serve a local-foods meal to encourage public support for community foods programs and acted as a spokesperson for the Trans-campus Energy Action Movement (TEAM Minnesota) to design ways for passionate people to coordinate their efforts and make a difference.
The hundreds of hours I’ve spent planning, motivating, and initiating green programs have been well worth my time. As a result of my efforts and that of other concerned individuals, my community has embraced a sustainable future by planning construction of a second wind turbine as well as many other worthy changes to make my college completely energy sustainable by the time I graduate. My congressional representatives have begun to consider environmental bills, and my campus has started to network with other colleges and politicians to create green initiatives.
What is most inspiring is that these goals are not only affecting my life, they are affecting the lives of my neighbors. One of my first goals was to stop using plastic bags needlessly because of their inefficiency and difficulty of recycling; when I finally mastered the habit of telling store clerks that I don’t need their bags, my friends took notice and mimicked my actions. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about the green adjustments others have made to follow my examples. I have been encouraged by emails, phone calls, and messages from friends and family telling me how they took one of my goals to heart and implemented it in their own lives. It is these people who are providing an example for the next generation of leaders. Because of their efforts we will be able to reverse some of the damage we have caused as the
rest of the country begins thinking green. I am proud to be a member of this next generation, knowing that my work has made me a stronger, more empowered, and more compassionate individual. I also know that our air is a bit clearer, our water a bit cleaner, and our world a bit healthier because of my efforts.
All the work that I have done with my platform has molded and polished me into a stronger, more empathetic and more passionate person. This is not surprising to me because I have seen the same thing happen to many others; community service provides people with the opportunity to learn about and take action on what they believe to be right. Through Thinking Greener, Living Cleaner I have met many people who will carry on the cause after I can no longer work for what I believe to be the most important issue of our time. I am humbled by the fact that I cannot change the minds of everyone, but I’m honored knowing that by taking responsibility of my own actions I can change the lives of those around me.