Reminders of Significance

So every so often we run into things that remind us that what we do has significance for others, that our actions affect the lives of others. I want to share a few of those instances of significance that I have run into lately.

There are three pieces of writing I cannot get away from each issue at the Oak Leaf. There is my cartoon, "other curious things", a tech column on students and technology and the editorial which I write with the help of the editorial board.

My co-editor-in-chief and I were talking the other day and he mentioned talking to a professor who used our editorial as a talking point in an English class. It can be a bit intimidating (in a good way) to know that what you are putting out there is not just being read but it is being discussed.

The tech column has also generated responses, from being asked to sit on a committee that oversees the technology side of the online classes at SRJC to receiving a press release today from a company wanting me to write about their app. While this second item may happen to bloggers fairly often the idea that some company found my stories in the campus paper and tracked down my email is sort of impressive to me.

What we put out into the world will reach other people whether we are aware of them or not, whether we mean for it to reach them or not. What we do has impact far beyond what we realize.