"After all, it's not a tragedy if you've lost. Those might even be splendid defeats — more valuable than someone else's routine victories."
"Do not judge justly; judge compassionately."
"People are not obligated to love us, but we are obligated to love ourselves so we can continue loving others."
Today, Saroyan’s messages took the stage at "Usum" — messages that one could reflect on endlessly.
The seventh graders' dramatized performance carried both hidden and explicit messages — addressed to each of us, and to all of us.
The setting was 1920s California: on one side, a fast-paced, chaotic American society; on the other, a family mired in social hardships, struggling to earn a living.
Based on Saroyan’s short story “The Oranges” and the play “The Oyster and the Pearl,” the staged performance told a story about unending belief, the importance of dreams and turning them into purpose, the ability to rise after defeats, and the value of recognizing those who stand beside us when we rise.
According to the audience, this was an event that urged many of us to pause — even briefly — amid our daily rush and work, to reflect on life’s most essential values and on the importance of preserving them.
To not think freely is to not think at all!
