Jaycee Snelson Week 15: Ripple Effect

 Jaycee Snelson Week 15: Ripple Effect

When walking home from the play I was thinking about the memory that was created, of watching some of the friends I made throughout high school take part in an amazing production and how some of them would be graduating soon, and how I would remember this memory for a long time. Then I started thinking about if this would be a memory for the people around me. 

For instance, I was sitting next to this third-grader who was watching the performance for the second time to support her sister, who was a part of the live orchestra. During the performance I heard her whispering. At first I thought she was whispering to her mom who, at the time, I thought was sitting behind us. However, after the third time it happened I glanced over and realized she was whispering to me. Not wanting to disappoint her, I responded to her commentary on the play, thinking this would be a one time thing. 


It was not.

The response to her enthusiasm towards the play opened the flood gates. Soon I was being bombarded with questions and comments about the show. 

“ Did you know Regina gets hit by a bus?”

“Is the teacher a real teacher at this school?”

“Do you know who plays Grechen?” 

Question after question I responded to the best of my ability trying not to disappoint this child I had grown strangely attached to in the short amount of time. However, I was also starting to get tired of all these constant questions, especially since they were happening during the performance I was trying to enjoy.  

When the play ended we went our separate ways. But I will always wonder how our interaction affected her memory of the play. Will she even remember it? How big of an impact did I make on her, if any at all? Did she enjoy the show? These are all questions I will neer get answers to. But it is always interesting to look at every interaction and how it will affect each person’s memory.


Comments

  1. Josh KarthikeyanApril 22, 2026 at 7:58 AM

    Hi Jaycee, the ripple effect is an amazing thing! It enables a single person to connect to the entire world, while leaving intermediate connections that may turn into large, impactful changes. Whenever I hear this discussed, I always remember the idea of how the world would change if Hitler successfully was able to be accepted and enter Art School. However, these questions by the third-grader seem a bit out of place during a performance where, at least to me, I was fully focusing on and immersed into the experience. But, seeing how you answered all the third-grader questions could have been really impactful to them, and at the very least will “affect each person’s memory,” yours and third grader's. There is this understanding in the world that doing good things may come back to you. By being kind to this third grader even when unnecessary, they may have felt fulfilled for the presentation, and were more happy. Happiness is contagious and this third-grader could have spread it to their friend and that friend could have continued to share their joy. We will never know, but that possibility is what makes being kind to another so worthwhile. And for you, Jaycee, the responses you gave to the third-grader watching the play, cemented your own understanding of each of the characters. Some may argue that explaining is the best way of learning different concepts and this could have been useful to you for the extra credit opportunity. Thanks for the blog, Jaycee!

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  2. Acintya ShenoyApril 22, 2026 at 6:50 PM

    Jaycee, your post touches on a really interesting emotion that I think a lot of us experience—the closest word is sonder, or the realization that every person you come across has an entire life of their own, with their own memories, dreams, regrets, and emotions. Sonder is the realization that every person is living their own life, instead of simply being background characters in your life. I think what you experienced with that girl was sonder, as the interactions you had with her were surface level, but the impact you may have had on her is much more profound than you might have imagined at the time.

    Sonder is such a profound emotion to me because it puts into perspective just how small we are compared to the rest of the world. Because we only follow and fully know our own lives, it’s easy for us to subconsciously assume that that’s all there is to this world. But when you realize that every human being has a long and complex backstory just as dynamic and vivid as your own, you begin to understand just how chaotic the world truly is, and just how much goes on that you’ll never know about. It elicits a lot of curiosity in me, because I really do want to know more about people: what they’re like, how they became the person they are today, what life experiences changed their perspective, who all they’ve met, etc. But no matter how long I try, I’ll never get there, because everyone is simultaneously interconnected and completely their own. It’s a feeling that’s neither positive nor negative. It just hits you like a truck, and you kind of just have to sit there and let that realization wash over you.

    I hope you get to meet that little girl again someday! Maybe you’ll be able to figure out if she remembers the interaction you two had at the play. :)

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    Replies
    1. Annie ZhuApril 22, 2026 at 10:05 PM

      I have never heard of "sonder" before! What an insightful comment :)😊

      Delete

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