Wisconsin Heights Optimist Club names winner of essay contest

Violet Bollenbach, daughter of Chad and Jill Bollenbach, was the winner of the Wisconsin Heights Optimists Club annual essay contest. Violet received a $100 gift card from the Peoples Community Bank in Mazomanie. Second place went to Levi Hellenbrand, son of Becky and Aaron Hellendbrand, and third place to Brooks Behn, son of Ben and Tori Behn. Levi received a $50 gift card from Lake Ridge Bank, Black Earth and Brooks received a $25 gift card from the Wisconsin Heights Optimists. This year’s essay theme was, “Optimism: How it Connects Us.” All essayists are students of Wisconsin Heights English teacher Katy Haag. 37 students entered the contest. The winning essay is entered into the Optimist District contest where a $2500 scholarship is awarded. It is printed below. The essayist and their parents were feted at a recent meeting of the Optimist Club at the Old Feed Mill. The Wisconsin Heights Optimists are part of Optimist International and focuses on bringing out the best in youth in the Wisconsin Heights area. Pictured, left to right: Levi Hellenbrand, Violet Bollenbach, Brooks Behn.   Optimism: How it Connects Us   By Violet Bollenbach   Optimism is a superpower. Though not as obvious as physical strength, or as enticing as charisma, someone with optimism can change the world. The ability to look at a situation and see an opportunity--to change, to learn, or to help--is incredibly special in a world that is constantly quarreling, where people take sides and countries are split by differing views. Optimists believe anything is possible, and are confident that the future can be changed. They can listen to others and learn about situations that can be helped. They are people who can create relationships with others easily and treat everyone equally. Optimism is especially important in youth, who have their whole lives ahead of them to solve problems, work together, and teach others. People with these qualities- optimists- bring people together by having faith in the future and presenting their point of view respectfully. Optimism, to me, can mean a belief that the future is bright and malleable. We define our own lives and can help our world where it needs it, Optimists bring hope. This past summer, a week-long trip to a series of climate change seminars brought together people from all over the world who believed that climate change can be stopped. There were people who had faith in our future. Connected with many other optimistic youth, we made allies, friendships, and promises. I met with people from Europe. Asia, and Africa and learned about their lives and personal connections to climate change. All high schoolers, specially chosen by our schools, rotary clubs, and communities, we were smart, young, passionate, and willing to learn. We discovered insurmountable different aspects to climate change and how millions of people were affected in unexpected ways, but it did not deter us. More strongly than ever, we believed that we had to contribute to fight against climate change. We were the future of this world, so we knew we had to maintain and protect it. Everyone I met was an optimist; our belief that climate change is reversible drew us to the seminars, helped us make connections, and left us with ideas and opportunities to bring back to our schools and towns. I came back to my school’s environment club with a network of friends and companies at my disposal, and a deeper understanding of the world around me. Afterwards, I too wanted to bring together others to inspire hope for our future the way the seminars did. Realizing that my connection to environmentalism stemmed from my love of nature, animals, and being outdoors, I created a new approach of teaching others about climate change. Sometimes, the fight to resolve environmental issues has to come from a personal connection. For example, I knew that some people may not care for nature, and may only be interested in climate change’s effect on health, animals, economics, or religion. Having learned about the consequences of climate change on these topics, I know I could respectfully present my opinion and connect with my peers through their link to environmental issues. I have now created common ground with people from extremely different backgrounds, families, and education. Without optimism, I never would have been able to connect with others with an understandable attitude.   Optimists, superheroes in this divided world, have many different powers. They believe that there are ways to change the world, and stay considerate to others while still having conversations about what needs to be changed and how. However, having faith in the future and civilly discussing problems may not always create lasting relationships. People who believe there is only one way to see things-which is a large chunk of the Western world’s population- are stubborn and may not find optimism important. Optimists can convert people to optimism and relate to other optimists, but some people do not want to try to solve world problems and discuss difficult issues. This is why the optimists we do have are so important. The more optimism there is, the closer people will be as they are attempting to achieve a common goal. Connecting with others and being social is necessary for humans. Optimism is a catalyst for human connection and creates a perfect base to teach and learn from others.