Hajir Atiyah, a sophomore at Sahuaro, enjoys traveling, reading, and playing soccer. She wants to go to JTED and in college, explore the option of becoming a doctor. Hajir wrote about humanity because it is almost always overlooked by society.

Imagine that, in an unfortunate turn of events, your life turns upside down and you go bankrupt. You become homeless, living on the streets and barely being able to survive. You lose hope that there will be anyone who steps in and helps you get back up on your feet again, but suddenly that person does show up and changes your life for the better. That person does it without wanting anything in return because they believe humanity is a responsibility. I also believe that humanity is a responsibility.

I have always believed in humanity simply because I feel that I cannot live in a world where there is no humanity, and no one cares for the other. But what truly caused me to reaffirm my belief was my neighbor, Adam. My family and I met him a few years ago, and he told us his story. He moved to the United States from Lebanon. Adam experienced many difficulties because he moved to a new country with a different culture and language. He did not know where to go or how to do things. He felt lost with no one helping him and was also not very strong at speaking English, so he experienced many challenges communicating with others.

But luckily, he met Elias, the person he will never forget in his entire life. Elias helped Adam with open arms in various ways. He helped Adam improve his English and be able to communicate with others without feeling completely lost or incongruous. He even showed him how and where to shop. But even then, Adam was not familiar with the city yet, so Elias showed him around the entire city. Also, since driving in a new country differs a little bit, he taught him everything about driving in the U.S. and even helped him get his driver’s license.  Elias later moved to a different city, but Adam, to this day, always remembers Elias and tries to stay in contact with him, especially during the holidays. He even tells everyone about how amazing Elias is and how much he has affected him.

Without the humanity of Elias, Adam would not have been able to get used to his completely new life as quickly as he did. Elias’s humanity really gave Adam hope that he would be able to overcome all the tribulations he faced, and it even gave me hope. Seeing how much the humanity of Elias affected my neighbor, my belief that humanity is a responsibility greatly increased. Because Adam’s life would have been so different without the humanity of Elias. This is also probably the case for many people in this world. I personally would not feel reassured if I knew that if anything happened to me, no one would help, simply because they feel that if they do not, someone else will. Also, humanity can be simple, like helping elderly people cross the street or carry something heavy. So, I decided to try to help anyone with anything and do it to the best of my ability. My tenet is the rainbow after the storm and the light at the end of the tunnel, humanity.