What If Her Dream Is to Help the People She Loves?
Imagine a young girl growing up in circumstances many would consider challenging. Perhaps her family struggles with money. Perhaps her neighborhood suffers from neglect. The adults in her life might be exhausted from long hours of work, transportation might be unreliable, or someone she loves might be ill or incarcerated. There might be violence close to home, or her school might be doing its best with very limited resources.
Yet despite these obstacles, she has a dream: to play college basketball.
Immediately, we recognize what she requires to pursue this goal: a basketball, shoes, a court, a team, a coach, practice, transportation, nutrition, competition, someone to teach her, and someone to encourage her. As her skills grow, she may need strength training, film study, camps, recruiting, medical care, scholarships, and a network of support systems dedicated to developing her talent.
No one questions the need to create the right conditions for her dream. We understand that talent alone is insufficient; potential must be given the opportunity to flourish.
Now, consider another girl living on the same street. Her ambition is different: she wants to help the people she loves.
Where is her court? Where is her coach? Where are her teammates, her tools, her training ground? Where is the place where someone asks her what she observes, what she understands, what problems she wants to solve, and what she might be capable of achieving? Where are the adults who say, "Let's see what happens if we help you try."
This question has been at the root of Seven Years of Change since its inception. Recently, I have observed young people who did more than simply discuss problems; they built, tested, and changed things.
For example:
· Lakshmi Agrawal, at 18, addressed water pollution caused by tires by developing a biodegradable material to capture contaminants.
· Natalie Muro tackled harmful algal blooms by constructing a system that uses wind, hydrogen peroxide, and biochar to alter the conditions that allow these blooms to persist.
· Ribal Zebian designed modular shelters to address housing insecurity, choosing to live in his own creation to identify flaws before entrusting it to others.
· Fionn Ferreira addressed microplastics in water by inventing a method to bind them to a magnetic fluid for removal.
· Arya Satheesh advanced from detecting microplastics to creating a biodegradable material that helps break down plastic as it degrades.
· Heman Bekele sought to make skin-cancer treatment more accessible and developed an experimental soap designed to deliver the drug imiquimod through lipid-based nanoparticles that remain on the skin after washing.
· Shanya Gill created a system to detect unattended heat sources before they cause catastrophic fires.
· Abigail Merchant built a satellite prototype to identify flooding and assess damaged infrastructure.
These young people come from diverse backgrounds and tackled varied problems at different stages of development. Some of their innovations may revolutionize industries, while others may not. Some ideas will fail, and some will evolve into something entirely new. However, what matters most is what they accomplished: they attempted to change conditions and, in many cases, did change conditions.
Lakshmi did not simply protest polluted water; she worked to change its contents. Natalie did not lecture algae; she changed the environment. Ribal did not blame the unhoused; he constructed different living conditions. Fionn altered the relationship between plastic and water. Shanya and Abigail changed the information available in emergencies. Heman questioned whether the method of delivering skin-cancer treatment itself could be redesigned.
Each asked, in their own way: "What can I change so that a different outcome becomes possible?"
This is the essence of "thinking outside the box" - it's also the way out of it.
Society often tells people to change their behavior: eat better, work harder, save more, exercise, study, stay out of trouble, find another job, raise children differently, drive less, use less energy, create less waste, or make better decisions. Sometimes this advice is helpful. But what about the conditions surrounding the person receiving it?
Can they afford healthy food? How many hours do they work? Who owns their housing? Is there reliable transit? Are there sidewalks? Where is the nearest grocery store? Who cares for their children? What do they do if the car breaks down? How much does electricity cost? Who owns their workplace? What happens if they become ill? How much of their earnings remain with them? Who helps them try again if they fail?
We frequently demand different results but leave the conditions that produce current outcomes unchanged.
This is not how businesses operate when the outcome is important. Nor do professional sports. If an athlete is valued, organizations create an environment supporting their performance. If revenue matters, companies build structures around generating it. If efficiency is essential, it is measured. If growth is a priority, people are hired to achieve it. If risk is a concern, contracts manage it. When shareholder returns are at stake, vast resources are invested in maximizing them.
We already possess the knowledge to construct supportive conditions for what we value.
So, I return to the little girl. What if her deepest values are the people around her? What if her dream is simply:
· I want to help my mother.
· I want the kids on this block to have a safe place.
· I want my grandfather to attend his medical appointments.
· I want to understand why the creek smells.
· I want people here to have better food.
· I want my friend to have a place to live.
· I want to build something.
Why should this dream receive less support than a dream of playing basketball?
Consider a neighborhood in Tennessee or Texas. Do not start with a massive program or by telling people what is wrong with them. Do not wait for government, foundations, or outside organizations to provide answers. Start by identifying what already exists:
Seven people - each with unique skills or resources, but more importantly willing to develop those skills and resources. Someone can cook. Someone repairs cars. Someone owns a truck. Another understands bookkeeping. Someone knows every elderly person on the block. Someone is good with children, knows construction, grows food, works in healthcare, understands computers, or sews. Someone has spent decades solving problems no one thought to ask about. Nearby, a fifteen-year-old may be questioning a situation adults have accepted for years: "Why do we do it this way?"
That question may be more valuable than we realize. It deserves a place to be explored.
Ask:
· Who do you love?
· What do they need?
· What can you do?
· Who else can help?
Then tackle something tangible. Perhaps seven families organize transportation for three elderly neighbors, or someone teaches kids to repair bicycles. Maybe the community maps its skills, transforms a vacant lot into a garden, or a mechanic teaches young people. Residents may discover unused equipment that could help someone start a business. Someone might build something entirely unexpected. The first attempt may fail. If so, ask, "What happened?" Why? What did you learn? What would you change? Who could do it better next time? This information is also valuable.
This is why Seven Years of Change encourages sharing experiences after action is taken: not only to collect success stories, but also to preserve useful knowledge. The next Lakshmi may not be in a laboratory yet. The next Ribal may lack resources. The next Natalie may be sitting by a polluted pond. The next Heman may be a thirteen-year-old watching a loved one struggle to afford treatment. The next important solution may never make the news, but its value is undiminished.
A woman may discover a better way for seven people to commute without seven cars. A retired carpenter may modify a house so an elderly neighbor can remain there. A teenager may invent a low-cost method to cool a room during a Texas summer. Families may organize to purchase food together more affordably. Someone may create a tool, process, or relationship that improves life in a small but meaningful way. Others may improve on it, and the idea spreads to other communities. This is how knowledge grows, and capacity develops.
This principle extends beyond humanity. Salmon, giraffes, mountain goats, rivers, forests, and soil all require suitable conditions. When these conditions are profoundly disrupted, it is unreasonable to expect adaptation. Just as we readily acknowledge this truth when considering forests, we must also learn to recognize it when it comes to people.
We must ask: What conditions enable this person, family, community, species, river, or forest to thrive, recover, contribute, adapt, and persist? What conditions have we created? What outcomes do they produce? If we do not like the answer: What can we change?
Seven Years of Change does not expect everyone to become an inventor. Rather, it urges us to stop wasting the inventiveness, knowledge, experience, compassion, skill, imagination, and usefulness already present around us.
The girl who dreams of basketball as a meaningful way to do something for those she loves deserves a court. Build it. Coach her. Support her when she succeeds, and help her rise when she fails. But nearby, another girl may dream of doing something meaningful for those she loves. She, too, deserves supportive conditions for her dream.
If we build them, we cannot predict what she will accomplish. That is the point.
Find something real. Change one condition. Observe the results. Learn. Share the knowledge. Then do it again.
Human beings possess immense capacity. The real question is: What kind of world will we create to nurture it?
For People and Planet.
Continue From Here
Want to understand the larger idea about how the conditions surrounding us shape what becomes possible? Read The Box Built for You.
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Sources and Attribution
• Society for Science — Lakshmi Agrawal, Regeneron ISEF 2026
• Society for Science — Natalie Muro, Regeneron Science Talent Search 2026
• Reporting on Ribal Zebian's modular-housing prototype and live-in testing
• European Patent Office — Fionn Ferreira, microplastic-removal technology
• The Earth Prize — Arya Satheesh, Eco Purge
• 3M Young Scientist Challenge / Discovery Education — Heman Bekele, Melanoma Treating Soap
• Society for Science — Shanya Gill, early fire-detection system
• IEEE Spectrum — Abigail Merchant, flood-detection CubeSat