A perfect world may never exist. But if we wait for everyone to agree on one truth before we work toward peace, we’ll never even get close.

When people hear about Humanism, they sometimes assume it’s a philosophy for intellectuals, scholars, and deep thinkers.

It’s a common belief—that morality only exists because of divine rules. That without a higher power to judge us, people will only care about themselves. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Humanism isn’t about rejecting responsibility. It’s about embracing it.

When people hear “Humanism,” many assume it’s just atheism with a fancy name. A way to reject faith, deny God, or push some anti-religious agenda. That assumption is completely wrong.

At 17, I thought I was broken.

You’re you. And if people don’t like you for you—no amount of pretending will ever change that.

From the moment we’re born, people have expectations for us. Our parents, our teachers, our communities—all of them have a vision for who we should become.

When you’re young, failure feels huge. Like one wrong move will completely derail your future. That’s exactly how I felt when I had to repeat my senior year of high school.