2006 THIRD PLACE

WHAT ABOUT PEACE?
Grace Wieninger
16 years old, New York

Peace is a lot like love, it is something that cannot be seen, or heard. It's felt with the heart, and takes awhile to achieve. It took me a long time to find peace. But in order to find peace, I first had to find myself. True peace starts from within, and works its way out. Only then can it reach others, and be taught.

I used to never really like myself. I was always searching for meaning, purpose. Why am I here? When things weren't going right, I started loosing hope. Would I ever find what I was looking for? I felt like no one would ever understand. It felt as though something was missing in my life. But now I see that's because I never really knew me! It is a long journey to find ones self, and once that is done, only then can you be truly happy and at one with yourself.

In terms of war, peace should be talking out your problems, instead of having to fight. I think that we should have all the people in charge sit down at a big round table and just talk it out and make a compromise, rather than having to fight each other. It's cheaper, takes only a few minutes, and nobody gets hurt. There's not enough time to hate, but there is always enough time to love. Love lasts forever. Why resort to violence, without giving peace a chance? If we get mad at one another, we should just forgive each other, and not hold a grudge. Be brothers and sisters, not enemies. Syblings may always fight, but in the end they find peace and love again. The way the world should be, in harmony. It doesn't necessarily have to be perfect, but we can resolve conflicts and help each other out when there is a problem or fight. What I've learned is that peace takes a long time to achieve, and takes a lot of work with help from people to guide along the way. But once it is found, then you can help to spread peace to others who are lost and are still searching for themselves.