I believe in worlds beyond my own. I’m not talking about aliens or the billions of planets in our universe either. As a kid, in first grade, my mind was full of thoughts. I thought about all sorts of things, story time, puppies, and about what to play on the playground. They are simple thoughts that popped out of nowhere every now and then. I also had more serious thoughts such as, what if I had done something differently, would the outcome have been better or worse? Should I tell mom about the dent I put on the wall? However, there was one thing that never crossed my mind. To any adult it would be obvious, but to me as a young first grader it wasn’t.

To me, way back then, teachers were robot overlords. They were there everyday, ready to start teaching right when the bell rang, droning out lesson after lesson and programmed to follow a strict schedule. They could tell me what to do and they weren’t even my parents. Handing out torturous homework without batting an eye, as if I had nothing better to do. Did they not care that I had to pick on my little brother or that I wanted to draw pictures for my parents? I thought teachers never went home; after I went home, they graded the previous night’s homework and the day’s pop quiz before recharging their batteries in the mysterious teachers’ lounge.

Of course this reality was shattered when I saw my teacher at the grocery store. Why would robots need to eat I thought. My mind just could not wrap around the concept that teachers are people too. They have families and friends just like me. Some things make them happy and other things make them mad, just like me. It popped the small bubble that was my world.

Today though, this is a very common thought for me to think. It isn’t restricted to just teachers anymore either. In the hallways at school I wonder what it might be like to walk in some else’s shoes. To experience the decisions that they have made and why they made them. What is it like to play in the band? Why did that person even choose to play in the band when clearly the orchestra is way better? What are their circumstances like? Are they lucky or unfortunate?

These thoughts help me to be a better person. They help me to think about the other person’s feelings. It has become easier for me to not be so angry at the person who bumped into me in the hallway. What if it was an accident that happened only because they were running late to class? Maybe they are just having a really bad day or maybe they were spacing out, I know because I do that a lot too. I have become more considerate of others because of these thoughts.

Each and every person has their own life, their own world. They make their own decisions and mistakes. Some people have like specific tastes and different life situations. They have their own feelings, thoughts, and dreams. That is why I believe in worlds beyond my own.