I am 21 and small matter. Beyond me, love is all there was.

I am 21 and small matter. Beyond me, love is all there was.

We are made of molecules, stardust and comets — small matter. I am 21, and I just want to love and be loved — because love is all there is. (Photo collage courtesy of Ange Theonastine Ashimwe) 1. I guess, now, I am twenty-one, and I still wonder what it means to be...

In many parts of the world, turning 21 years old is a milestone that signals a transition into adulthood. For Ange Theonastine Ashimwe, a student at Kepler in Rwanda, 21 is a “green-light number.” In her prose poem, she uses memory and metaphor to reflect on her lived experiences, contemplate our smallness in the universe and consider how much more there still is to learn.

Exercise: Ask students to reflect on a birthday that felt significant. What was happening in their lives? Why did it feel like a milestone? Then make a creative piece that explores those feelings.

Author: Ange Theonastine Ashimwe