Though trite, trial tempers temperaments
It’s ironic, but opinions – or at least in the form of formal written columns – tend to adopt a wonderfully status-quo approach that, unsurprisingly, almost always take on an opportunist and politically correct position.
Go green, take a more active role in campus, get involved, join a club, the list of admonitions one is exposed to is almost as substantive as the average pile of homework through which the average college student has to work.
I am hardly a conformist. Though my personality is slow to offer a counter-view or dissenting opinion, I try to take on what I categorize as the “important” issues, and leave the rest to a silent nod of acknowledgement.
Yes, there are some issues that I deem important that are cliché and oft-discussed; yet, I want to be able to discuss and analyze the even more important issues that are often overlooked – be it because of their associated stigmas or stereotypes.
As one of my mentors is fond of saying, it is best to balance criticism with praise, so as to alleviate the sting of our own failings with the hope that we can do better in the future. That being said, as I reflect upon the past year at our college, I often am privately bemused at the quantity of people I recognize and know on the campus. However, I soon remind myself that I might be guilty of confusing frequency with quantity, and that perhaps I am just seeing the same individuals repeatedly in different settings, rather than being acquainted with as diverse a populace as I initially thought.
While it is admirable that the same groups of people accomplish so much and have such a ubiquitous presence on campus, it is unfortunate that the majorities have seen it fit to entrust a portion of their fates to a fractional minority. Perhaps if I observed continual interaction between representatives and those represented, I would feel more at ease. Alas, I hear silence all too often during my attendance at the weekly CAB and Student Senate meetings when student input is sought. In the same vein, neither CAB nor Senate had competition for the presidential seat this year. Why is that?
That is not to say that I have any lack of faith in our currently elected individuals. On the contrary, I have more than ample faith that they will serve in their highest capacities; but, as a matter of principle, the lack of competition has the potential to allow sub-standard performance to occur. It is my belief that, as a student body, we should demand better of ourselves.
As I stated in my first opinion article as executive editor of The Eagle two months ago, and as I will gladly reaffirm now, we are all going to fail, to mess up, and through the struggles and trials, we will grow stronger.
However trite it might be, I hope I can speak for the entirety of our campus when I say I would rather mess up trying to make a positive difference and fail, than to not try at all.