2009: Best Article

I am a reader. That's how I learn about the world, and writing is how I process what I learn about the world. Right now, I've been on this kick of reading about the plasticity of the brain. I just find it a really cool concept that has far-reaching implications for me personally but also culturally if we use this information properly. So I subscribe to Rick Hanson's Just One Thing newsletter. Recently, he wrote in an article called "Take in the Good" about the brain's negativity bias and how it relates to happiness. He explains that humans have a natural tendency to focus on the negative - it makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint, considering that in the wild you have to pay more attention to the thing that might kill you versus the thing that brings you pleasure. Hanson explains some techniques to circumvent the negativity bias - mostly he says to set time aside to focus on the positive.

All of this is interesting, but the article meant a lot more to me a week later. I had decided to give it to my seniors to read. These students are anything but readers, and I do my best to find non-fiction pieces I can give them to help prepare them for college and to expose them to new ideas. Much to my surprise, they loved the article. They asked to keep a copy of it. One student came in before school to thank me for sharing it with him.

I was pleasantly shocked. It was nice to know that I found a topic they felt pertained to them; in fact, it was nice to know they saw it as a topic that pertained to them.

So really, this one Rick Hanson article ended up being a connection between me and a group of non-readers. Maybe, with any luck, the article will increase their curiosity about the world.