One day, we will all be dead. The pages you are reading may be part of someone’s science project, or maybe left in a landfill to just sit there for the rest of eternity. One day, you will be part of the question, “How many people were alive in 2026,” or “How many people died this year.”
As of right now, you’re just another number, part of the statistics of the birthrate the year you were born, or the number of deaths and how they occurred the year you die.
Your name and impact on people may be a fond memory in someone’s mind and hopefully something they will eventually tell their kids and then their grandkids. But you’re still just another number.
In our world today, researchers believe there have been approximately 117 billion people who have lived on Earth. Out of 117 billion, there is approximately one percent of people who are remembered in any meaningful way.
The average life expectancy of a person is about 79 years. In a ‘typical’ life, you attend school from ages 4-18, and after you graduate, you attend college. After you attend college, you will be about 22 and then work for 50 years and then live the rest of your life in retirement.
People who are remembered are those who have had a meaningful, powerful impact on our world. These people have either done something that has been great for this earth, or have been some of the worst people this earth has seen.
For example, George Washington will forever and always be remembered as the first president of the United States who helped free the colonies from Great Britain. Adolf Hitler will always be known for the Holocaust and the death of six million Jews and others.
But, no matter how good or bad their impact was, their names will still be forever known.
What about those six million Jews and others who were killed? They are only part of a number, along with all the soldiers who died fighting in the American Revolution. Even though they are people who cared about things, had friends, family, and a life, we will never know who they are, what they were like, and some we will never even know their names.
Thinking and learning about things like this makes me wonder: what’s my purpose in life? What’s the point of anything? Why am I living if one day I’ll just die? This is called an existential crisis, which is completely normal and something everyone experiences when something impactful happens in their life.
An existential crisis is a moment of questioning the meaning, purpose, and value of one’s life. This is often triggered by traumatic or even life-changing events such as losing a loved one, experiencing heartbreak, growing up, etc.
Experiencing this does not mean that there is something ‘wrong’ with you, but rather means that your mind is developing since you are thinking so deeply.
These thoughts are something that nearly everyone thinks of at least once in their life. This typically happens in your teenage years, where your life is constantly changing; friends come and go, experiencing the ‘real world’, etc.
Sophomore Raelynn Black said, ”I do wonder a lot about my purpose in life, but I eventually realized that that question is the first step to help me create my purpose.”
Rather than questioning the meaning of one’s life and purpose, it may be better to take a different approach: What can I do to make this life meaningful? How do I make the most out of my life, and help others make the most out of theirs?
Try to be an impactful person who helps make our world better. Whether it’s like Albert Einstein or Issac Newton who made discoveries, or Martin Luther King Jr. or Malala Yousafzai who are activists who speak for their beliefs.
Sophomore Mia Gallegos said, “It’s okay if I’m not remembered by the world. I just hope I’ll be remembered by the people around me.”
Maybe one day, even these people will also just be another number, but doing things that make you happy and even just attempting to make your life as meaningful as possible could make you someone who is not just another number.