1. Julio Villegas
How Do I Intend To Make A Difference In The Lives of Others?
The American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, while delivering a speech in Rochester, New
York, for the 76th anniversary of America’s independence from the British Crown, remarked that
“we have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.”
Time is relative, and time is paradoxical. It is both infinite, yet temporal; oceanic, yet no more
than a restless grain of sand without a set destination. Between the infinite and the temporary
exists the human condition. Between the palms of infinity and oblivion rests interpretation, the
solemn desire to unravel narratives and histories that have remained as mysterious and elusive
to us as the very desire to implement them, to leave, for the unborn generations, a testament of
our moments spent here within the palms of Time. There is primary death, and then there is
absolute death; primary being the death of our physical body, of our physical presence, and
absolute being the death of all memories and moments that we have left within the minds,
hearts, and souls of others. I am not here to exist and to simply die. I am not here, bestowed,
like each and every single one of you, with a spirit, a mind, and a voice to ​not​ leave my
testament carved within the veins and scriptures of this life. We become what we believe, and
there is absolutely no question within my virtues or vices that there is an inherent reason for all
of us to be existing, collectively, together, at this very moment.
The past, present, and future repeat themselves, offering new opportunities to
understand what we could not have understood the times prior. As it is with time and history, so
it is with us. It is understood that we all exist, but the question at hand is how many of us decide
to truly live. This is my undertaking. This is my testament. I am not here to simply exist, I am
here to ignite a flame of unbound brilliance within the minds and spirits of those who wish to live,
who desire to remain upon the earth long after our bodies have given way to Death’s corporal
hand. Through writing, through speaking, through action, through fighting for the manifestation
of ideals instead of the multiplication of material, exhausting all of my capacities, to once more
begin, this is how a difference is intended to be made. Constructing curiosity while dismantling
prejudice, resurrecting resilience while shattering despondence, witnessing new forests bloom
from the ashes of our labyrinths; these are the paths that I have adhered in following, for this is
not a singular pursuit, this is collective. This is not myself, nor of any other sole individual, it is a

2. collective, overarching entity to be awoken within us from the experiences, tribulations, and
responses within our society. When it is far easier to accept uniformity, embrace difference, and
when it is expected to adhere to social, economic, gender, and race roles, let every breath you
take be a brilliant rebellion against these false dictations. Remember, we have to do with the
past only as we can make it useful for the present and the future. Let us not forget Douglass’s
words. The chains may be removed from the body but they remain persistent upon the mind.
They try to cast their weight, to oppress our identity, our ambitions, our visions, our legacy, but
we must remind ourselves, and it is absolutely imperative that we remind ourselves, that we are
not here to exist and simply die. We are here to ignite flames and scatter embers that will glow
and that will rage with the most blinding of brilliances in the darkest realms of our spirits and our
minds.
History repeats itself so that we can learn from the past, shift the paradigm of our
present, to forever live on in the future that we have left for the unborn generations. We are to
lift one another up with our ideas, our talents, and our voices. It is when our virtues become
eclipsed by the vices of others do we witness the palms of oblivion and infinity beginning to
clasp in upon us; the hands of Time reminding us that we could be oceanic yet we allow
ourselves to accept the idea that we are no more than a grain of sand. For far too long, this
thinking has driven venomous barbs straight into our capacities to dream, to act, to pursue, to
create. The repetitions of our pasts have prepared us for this present, and I will not spend my
existence observing idly when there is a flame within me that the darkest of neither man nor
nature can eradicate. The difference, the memory, and the history that I will leave for this
lifetime is one that will transcend me, for it is collective. The differences, the memories, and the
histories that ​we will leave will be the decision to have embraced, fought for and passed down
the indelible flame of the restless spirit. Through ferocious brilliance, we ​will​ be remembered for
casting the new light upon history’s pasts. We will be remembered for once more shattering the
chains, and we will be remembered as the forest that bloomed from ashes.
I dedicate my speech to Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tamir
Rice, Sandra Bland, and to the countless individuals across this nation, and across this planet
whose lives were cut short by a failed societal system. We have to do with the past only as we
can make it useful to the present and the future.