I have always been fascinated by humans. I love asking someone about their life story, and about their hopes and dreams, because it reminds me that we all have our own individual passions to pursue. It is only through our structured and saturated world that we develop the categorization of people as ‘good’ and ‘bad.’ In my process of trying to understand why people do the things they do, say the things they say, and believe the things they believe, I have come to the realization that we cannot completely define someone by either term. Humans are a combination of positives and negatives — a mixture of remarkable traits and habits that need breaking. We are all human; we are all just trying to figure it out.
Since March, the events affecting the world have provided me the opportunity to reflect upon my appreciation for people: The people I passed by in Payson Library, the individuals I interacted with in everyday settings, the humans that humored, humbled and honored me for the person I am today. But more importantly, I have also come to better understand the importance of these small encounters, the importance of human interaction and the power that each of us holds as a unit — when we are all together. That was the inspiration for this issue of Currents.
Someone once told me, “Every person who walks into your life teaches you something about yourself.” As I finish my last semester of college and begin to flip the page toward the next chapter in my life, I have come to appreciate this statement and the authenticity that it holds. We are all so much more than meets the eye, and when we take the time to really listen to one another — not interrupt, check our phone, or allow initial judgements to take precedent — we will appreciate the elements of humanity that allow us to be different and yet simultaneously bond us together.
This magazine is not an attempt to navigate who is right and who is wrong in a world that is so sharply divided by opposing parties and beliefs. This magazine is an opportunity to reinstill acceptance, hope and love in the world we wake up to each morning: an opportunity to acknowledge what bonds us — faith, family, love, nature, social movements and sports. And more importantly, it is a reminder that humans need each other.
These are the humans of Pepperdine.
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Contact Madison Nichols via email: madison.nichols@pepperdine.edu
Follow Currents on Twitter: @PeppCurrents
