He plays soccer and tennis and goes to movies with kids his own age. But he numbers Nobel Peace Prize laureates among his cherished friends, and he meets with heads of state to discuss ways to end the horror of torture and starvation that holds the world's children in thrall.

Four years ago, he was in second grade. Today, he is a college sophomore carrying a triple major at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He completed 33 units during his freshman year, including calculus, fifth-year French, and an honors project in which he studied the impact of war and violence on children. On June 9, he will be 12 years old.

His educational plans include three PhDs -- in biomedical science, aerospace engineering, and political science. The latter will prepare him for his intended presidential candidacy.

Meanwhile, Greg Smith travels and speaks worldwide in behalf of world peace and his own organization, I.E.M. for Non-Violence. Those letters stand for Inspiration, Education, and Motivation. Right now, he is focused on raising money to remove children and their families from war-ravaged areas.

A world in which children feel unsafe -- in which they are abused, starved, maimed, murdered, and forced to serve as soldiers and factory workers -- this very world in which we live is intolerable to him, and he means to change it. And yet he is full of hope and song. Quite literally, he sings all day long. He sings his calculus and history lessons. He sees his own life as an opera or a musical poem.

On Greg's website, he asks: "Who will feed these children? Who will protect these children? Who will hold these children when they are frightened?" And he answers, "I will help -- I have pledged my life to this work. How will you help? When will you help? We must start now!"

If you are wondering how one little life -- your own, perhaps -- could possibly make a difference in this old world, please visit Greg Smith's website. Perhaps there you may find the Inspiration, Education, and Motivation to seek out your own unique part in the healing of Planet Earth.

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