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On Aug. 8, the opening ceremony of the Olympic games occurred in Beijing. Like most Americans, I tuned in to watch a bit of the action, but unlike most Americans, I watched the ceremony from the office of a Czech hostel.

I and three other students from local schools were in Prague, Czech Republic, for the YMCA Europe international youth festival. The festival was attended by 8,000 kids from all over Europe, North and South America, and Asia.

In Prague, we were constantly barraged by new things, places and experiences. We were amazed by the local architecture. The castles, cathedrals and cobblestone roads had been built with meticulous detail by hand, thousands of years ago.

Never before had we met so many people from so many different backgrounds and nationalities. We were struck by not only the differences between cultures and the people we met, but also the similarities.

And as I watched the Olympic opening ceremony late at night in the hostel, I realized that the Olympics, like the YMCA festival I was attending, are focused on all kinds of new experiences. Like the new records set by young superstar athletes like Michael Phelps, to the older athletes competing in their first Olympic games like sailor John Dane, the Olympics are about finding a transcendental experience on a global scale. When children see a sport, athlete or hear of a country for the first time on TV in the Olympic games, it can change their life, or at least diversify it.

Not only are the Olympics and international festivals places to change our perceptions of what is real and possible, but everyday life is, too. In the words of Christopher McCandless, a young man who trekked across America searching for the ultimate experience before he died on an epic adventure in the Alaskan wild: “The core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences.”

McCandless was not an Olympic athlete and never left America, but he lived life as he saw fit, meeting new people and seeing things for the first time every day until his death.

So in the end it matters not if you are competing as an elite athlete in the Olympic games, visiting a foreign country or simply living life, try something new. Everything that is outside of our comfort zone — that we’ve never seen, tasted or touched — can increase our understanding of the world.

Understanding creates tolerance of diversity. On an individual level, experiencing the new can enrich life. On a global scale, it creates peace through understanding.

Garrett Soper is a junior at Onalaska High School.