The Little Things

Cherish the little things.

I never dreamed this day would come. 

It all started when I was 8 years old and decided to audition for my first show with Christian Youth Theater, CYT. 

I stood on the audition stage in hot pink overalls, showing off the huge gap between my teeth, my hair in tight, even pig tails; I was ready.

Little did I know this organization would slip into my heart and impact my life so that one day, when it was time to age out, it would be one of the hardest things to let go of.

Accompanying each Spring show, we held a graduation ceremony for the seniors. People would speak for them, the entire cast would cry and hug as we reminisced about their CYT careers.

Many of these seniors were people who my friends and I looked up to; they where my role models. I attribute to them so much of who I am today. 

Seeing them leave, go off to college, grow older, get married, even have children has been such a wonderful thing. These people who helped shape who I am today are living amazing lives, and I still get to be a part of them because of CYT. 

However, this year was different. This year the cast looked at photos of me and my friends from our first show, to our awkward teenage years, to now. This time I got to choose who spoke for me at my graduation. This year I graduated alongside the most incredible people; my best friends. 

 I am not going to lie, I was not looking forward to that day. May 25, the dreaded day, quickly approached. 

But it wasn’t necessarily the fact that I had to grow up that was sad, or the fact that I could no longer perform. Growing up is inevitable, and performing is my major. But it was the fact that I could no longer perform with this particular company that hurt the most.

Theater is a very rough environment. It’s ugly, cutthroat and brutal. Good career choice, right?

But CYT somehow hid that from the naive eyes of the youth, and kept the innocence in theater so that kids of all ages could really enjoy theater without having to grow up too quickly. 

CYT somehow bridged the gap between each age group and brought us all together to perform as a family. And it really felt as if each cast was a different family. 

From age eight to eighteen, everyone one of us where friends. We all hung out, asked how each others day went, had sleepovers, we really do care for one another. 

And every single person is accepted. It doesn’t matter if you stutter, are in a wheel chair, or are bullied at school, you walk through the doors at CYT and all of that goes away, and people look at you for who you really are; a nerdy kid who just wants to be on stage. 

I truly attribute the person I am today to CYT. I stayed out of trouble, I had the strength to be true to who I was, even if people at school didn’t understand that, because I knew when I went to CYT, myself was enough. 

As a kid, I remembered thinking, “I hope that I can be a great example to younger kids, and influence them as much as these older kids have influenced me.” And I have tried my best to do so. 

But what I found is something beyond what I was expecting. These kids touched my life, these kids influenced my life far more than I believe that I influenced theirs. 

You see, each kid brings something new and unique to CYT, but they all possess something that is the same: their innocence. They reminded me of how important it was to keep some of that innocence in the world. 

The world can be a negative, sad place, but it all comes down to how you look at it. And these kids look at the world through wide, glistening eyes, and they see good. They see the positive, wonderful things in the world that  makes life worth living. They see the little things.

So as I stood on the stage for one last time at my graduation, I wasn’t wearing hot pink overalls, I no longer had a huge gap between my teeth, my hair was not in tight, even pig tails; but, I was ready.

I looked at each one of my friends, sobbing by my side as we all graduated together, and then I looked at each little kid, all 60 of them. And they where sobbing too, because I was leaving them to go to college. Knowing that they would miss me made my heart ache even more. I was going to miss them so much more than they could ever know, but I am going to try my very best to stay in their lives, just as each one of my role models has done for me. 

After the graduation ceremony ended, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight. 

I hugged each kid, and began to cry even more as their little bodies trembled and their eyes soaked my shirt. 

As I tried to calm one of them down, I picked her up and sat her on my lap. I sat, stroking her hair, telling her everything was going to be okay, that I was still going to see her whenever I came home from college. 

Then she flipped like a switch and immediately lit up. “Oh yeah,” she exclaimed as she threw her arms around my neck.

As she beamed at me, I couldn’t help but wonder how she always managed to be so happy all the time. And so I asked her. 

This little 8-year-old took my hands, and just stared at me smiling, and I couldn't help but smile back. She kissed me on the cheek, hopped off my lap and went to go get ready for our final show. 

At that moment I knew that it was the little things that made these kids so positive all the time. They live in the moment without a care about the past, or the future, just what they knew at that moment. 

And I knew that I not only left these kids with happy memories and a good example to follow, but these kids taught me an invaluable lesson that I was prepared to take with me to college—to cherish the little things. 

Elmo

 Maybe it’s because I have seen firsthand the joy that Elmo can bring to children. Maybe it’s because I am still a four-year-old inside. Maybe it’s because I’m partial; it could very well be. Having played Elmo for two summers at SeaWorld, I have witnessed the joy this furry red monster brings children from all around the globe. Whether the children come from Australia, or Britain, or Japan, whether they be a boy or girl, they still approach Elmo with the same giddy awe and million-dollar smile.

When I was a child I watched Sesame Street and I watched Elmo’s World. I sang along, and I loved it. It brought joy to my childhood. Now as a teenager, I find that being able to give back to the community by delivering that same joy to a nation of children and seeing the impact it has on them has been an invaluable experience; something I never knew was possible.

So yeah, maybe I am partial when I say this, but rightly so—

 Regardless of what Kevin Clash, the voice and creator of Elmo, has or has not done, should have nothing to do with the character of Elmo.

Clash was accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor many years ago, and now the said minor has decided to bring their previous relationship to the media’s attention.

Many of the parents are skeptical about allowing their kids to watch Elmo now, according to the Wall Street Journal. They say that they can’t look at Elmo anymore without seeing Clash and remembering the accusations against him. 

I have no intention of arguing whether or not what Clash did was consensual, or whether or not he is guilty. However, whatever Clash has done should not overshadow Elmo’s character and what this character has done for millions of children.

When children watch Elmo they don’t look at the person behind the puppet. If that were the case then the children, and many of the parents, would be confused to find that a 5’ 1,” Asian-American, 17-year-old girl (me) plays Elmo as well.

It doesn’t occur to these children that there is a person behind the magic. 

To them, Elmo is real. He is a living breathing red furry monster that has the same interests, fears, questions as they do, and he answers those questions in a way that children all around the world, at any age, can understand.

Children probably have no idea who Clash is or what he has done in his lifetime. 

I am speaking from experience when I say that the person behind the puppet or costume has nothing to do with the character.

I have seen children light up at the sight of Elmo.

I have heard children scream out for Elmo at an ear-piercing decibel, shouting for Elmo to wave hello or blow a kiss while he is singing “One Fine Face.”

I have felt their little arms wrap their hands around him so tight, as if they never want to let go.

I have seen a mother cry as she watched her Down Syndrome child smile for the first time.

Elmo brings a multitude of happiness.

Elmo fosters that innocence that is so pure and valuable in children.

Elmo speaks to them in a way many adults cannot. 

And even Clash recognizes that. He created this character for children of all ages, races, and cultures to enjoy and latch on to.

He wasn’t fired from Sesame Street, he chose to step down from playing Elmo to sort out his personal life.

Clash recognizes that Elmo doesn’t need him, and that letting Elmo’s reputation remain innocent is a greater service to this nation than anything else he could do.

So I will leave you with this. Try not to think, “sex offender” every time you see Elmo now. Keep the puppeteer separate from the puppet.

Think of the joy this character has brought to a nation that needs it so.

Just look at the children’s faces while they’re watching Elmo play with his fish Dorothy, and I promise you, you won’t even remember the man behind the puppet.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced recently that the Pentagon was lifting its ban on women serving in combat.

Before, women were only allowed to “temporarily be in danger zones,” but now they can be on the front lines, just as men are allowed to.  

My first reaction was, that’s great! 

Quite frankly, I’m not really a “feminist” but I’m not “sexist” either. I fall somewhere in the middle. The draft didn’t really affect me before, and it doesn’t really affect me now seeing as I have no intention of going off to serve in combat. 

Nevertheless, this is a step in the right direction for full equality. 

Women who want to serve in combat should be allowed to fully serve in combat and be treated as the equals of men. 

They still have to pass the same physical tests, they still have to pass the same health tests, and they still have to be able to do at least three pull-ups, just like men.

A military official told The New York Times that the law will be implemented “as soon as possible;” however, Congress has three years to make a final decision.

The New York Times added that each branch of the military reserves the right to withhold a job from women if it decides that she cannot fulfill it.

However, the article also states that Congress is thinking about allowing women to enter the draft.

This comes as a bit of a contradiction to me. There may still be some jobs that the military doesn’t want women to do, yet they will allow them to sign up for compulsory enrollment with the armed forces. 

 So my first reaction to that statement is hell no!

I don’t want to sign up for the draft, there are plenty of women, who I know don’t want to sign up for the draft, and honestly, I don’t think America is ready for women to sign up for the draft.

I’m not being sexist, I’m being honest.

Our society generally raises girls and boys very differently.

Boys play with swords and pretend they’re pirates. 

Girls play house with dolls.

Boys dress up as ninjas and kick and punch everyone walking by.

Girls dress up as princesses and prance around with jewelry and make up on.

Boys play Call of Duty and Black Ops.

Girls don’t play video games.

Of course I am being very general, but our society typically raises pretty princesses and strong knights in armor. Not to mention, men are built differently physically than girls. They develop different muscles, and they have different chemicals that naturally make them more aggressive.

According to Mail Online, a newspaper from the UK, Australian scientists have found what they call a “macho gene” in men that gives them the “fight or flight” instinct whereas women are more of the “tend and befriend” type. 

When men are in stressful situations, they have stress hormones that increase their blood pressure and pump adrenaline through their veins. Women have estrogen and the “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin, that counteracts that.

This isn’t to say that girls can’t defend themselves.

You see women lifting cars off of their babies because mama bear comes out from the adrenaline. 

I loved playing with dolls and I loved dressing up like a princess, but my father also taught me to punch when I was 6. He told me that if a guy ever attacks me, punch them in the throat first and then kick them in the sweet spot because their first reaction is to protect their jewels. 

However, I also know that my father would find it difficult to watch his princess pick up an AK47 and go at it on foreign land.

So no, I don’t believe that is the right step towards full equality.

With all of that said, there are some guys out there who I don’t want defending our country. No insult to men, but some people are born in different situations, live different lives, have more or less of the “macho gene” in them. Just as some men can mentally and physically handle war better than others, the same goes for women. 

So my solution?

Plain and simple, make the draft optional for men and women. 

I know that sounds insane, and you may be thinking, “how in the world can you even propose that,” but here is the thing:

The draft was created after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 because there were not enough volunteers to fight in the war. However, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, in 2009 they had almost 300,000 Americans sign up for different branches in the military, each branch meeting or surpassing the necessary amount.

I won’t go as far as saying that the draft is unnecessary, because I can’t predict if there is going to be World War III soon where all of America will have to go off and fight. But for now, save Americans the heartache, and make the draft optional for both women and men. 

Some people would be more than happy to waltz down to the United States Post Office to sign up for the draft on their 18th birthday. I can promise you that I was neither thinking about it, nor wanting to sign up for the draft on my 18th birthday. 

However, I can also promise you this: If there was a war on American soil, families were dying, loved ones were tortured, the American people would come together and they would fight.

If Red Dawn went down on American soil, if Korea took my family, killed my father, and hurt my loved ones, I can promise you that I would pull a Mulan and go defend my country and my family. 

If it is full equality America wants, making women sign up for the draft is one step too far. I believe we must take one step back, making it an option for those, both men and women, who know that they can mentally and physically handle it.