NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - 11-year-old Nova Jones shared some words of wisdom, reading an excerpt from her essay “Creating a Kind Community” that’s featured in a new anthology called “Global Voices for Peace.”
“Be kind, have a positive mindset, maybe meditate, take deep breaths,” Jones said. “We must be kind to ourselves even if we don’t feel like it, which means, like, just be kind to yourself, even if you don’t think you can do that. You have to at least try, because then it will help you be nicer to others.”
Dr. Susan Hartley put the book together with contributions from writers across the globe, sharing stories and ideas about how to create a more peaceful world.
Nova is the book’s youngest contributor.
“Her contribution to the book is really a very concise ‘how to’ for people on how to be an every day peace builder,” Dr. Hartley said.
The New Bedford sixth grader drew inspiration from conversations about bullying and world tensions. Nova’s mom said she’s very proud.
“She’s always been very positive. She was born extremely premature and everybody has always said, as soon as they meet Nova, they know that she’s very different and gifted. They say, ‘She’s going to change the world someday,'” Shakyla Platt said, Nova’s mother.
Dr. Hartley said it’s inspiring to see young people engage in conversations like this. She sees Nova as a potential leader.
“She is not just a peace builder in the future. She is a peace builder now. So when I run into young children and I run into people like her, it gives us a lot of hope,” Dr. Hartley said.
Nova aspired to be an author when she grows up and hopes to write and illustrate her own books one day.
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