2008 Woodie Awards
If I was a rich girl...
Shannen Garza
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Opinion
If I could trade places with anyone, I'd be Marie Antoinette. That way, if I ever got bored, I could stuff my face with chocolate-covered strawberries, buy expensive dresses and party the night away. Too bad I'm not the queen of France. Perhaps I'm better off, since Antoinette's fate wasn't very appealing. I would prefer my head to stay attached to my body. I suppose the actual question I'm trying to ask myself is, what would I do if I were filthy rich?
At first it seems there is only one answer to that question: I'd roll around in piles of money all day. However, not only is that unsanitary, but after awhile I suppose I'd have to spend it. But spend it on what? If you had asked me this question when I was a little kid, I would have given a Miss America-pageant-answer about how I'd somehow use that money to bring peace to the world or wipe world hunger off of the face of the earth. Here's the thing, there's a lot of hunger in the world, so I've come to the decision that perhaps I should think smaller.
Let's fast-forward a few years and ask the question again. As a 16-year-old, I would have said that I'd buy out the Popsicle industry. Why? Well, quite simply, have you ever met anyone who didn't like Popsicles? I can just imagine world leaders leaving their offices and soldiers dropping their weapons on battlefields as they caught sight of my Popsicle truck rolling by. There has to be an unwritten rule that says you can't fight while eating Popsicles. Disclaimer: If you're reading this and you do, in fact, dislike Popsicles, then perhaps you're the reason there's no world peace.
In all seriousness, you're probably wondering what I would do with the money as of today. I honestly would still want to do something that would have a positive impact on the world. One thing that has stayed constant, since I was a child, is that I have always had a strong desire to leave the world a little better off than when I arrived, and I still do.
If I had the money, I think I would start a school in a Third-World country. I know, this is a boring answer, but don't get your underwear in a bunch just yet. I would want the school to have an emphasis on art. I think that people who have lived challenging lives always have a story to tell, and what better way to express that than through art? Whatever art was produced, I'd want to bring back home to the U.S., so that people could learn from it and be inspired to take action in their own way.
My idea isn't genius, and perhaps someone out there has already done exactly what I've described. Despite that fact, what is most important is that my eyes would be open to the rest of the world. Maybe no amount of money can solve the chaotic web we've created; maybe all it actually takes is opening our eyes to things that we may not want to see, to things that aren't exactly beautiful. Either way, millionaire or penniless, there's something to contribute, even if all you have to give is a Popsicle.
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Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Cauldron editorial staff. All other columns and opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the author.
At first it seems there is only one answer to that question: I'd roll around in piles of money all day. However, not only is that unsanitary, but after awhile I suppose I'd have to spend it. But spend it on what? If you had asked me this question when I was a little kid, I would have given a Miss America-pageant-answer about how I'd somehow use that money to bring peace to the world or wipe world hunger off of the face of the earth. Here's the thing, there's a lot of hunger in the world, so I've come to the decision that perhaps I should think smaller.
Let's fast-forward a few years and ask the question again. As a 16-year-old, I would have said that I'd buy out the Popsicle industry. Why? Well, quite simply, have you ever met anyone who didn't like Popsicles? I can just imagine world leaders leaving their offices and soldiers dropping their weapons on battlefields as they caught sight of my Popsicle truck rolling by. There has to be an unwritten rule that says you can't fight while eating Popsicles. Disclaimer: If you're reading this and you do, in fact, dislike Popsicles, then perhaps you're the reason there's no world peace.
In all seriousness, you're probably wondering what I would do with the money as of today. I honestly would still want to do something that would have a positive impact on the world. One thing that has stayed constant, since I was a child, is that I have always had a strong desire to leave the world a little better off than when I arrived, and I still do.
If I had the money, I think I would start a school in a Third-World country. I know, this is a boring answer, but don't get your underwear in a bunch just yet. I would want the school to have an emphasis on art. I think that people who have lived challenging lives always have a story to tell, and what better way to express that than through art? Whatever art was produced, I'd want to bring back home to the U.S., so that people could learn from it and be inspired to take action in their own way.
My idea isn't genius, and perhaps someone out there has already done exactly what I've described. Despite that fact, what is most important is that my eyes would be open to the rest of the world. Maybe no amount of money can solve the chaotic web we've created; maybe all it actually takes is opening our eyes to things that we may not want to see, to things that aren't exactly beautiful. Either way, millionaire or penniless, there's something to contribute, even if all you have to give is a Popsicle.
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Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Cauldron editorial staff. All other columns and opinion pieces represent solely the opinion of the author.