Why College Students need Vision of a Better College and Society
Question where we are, collaborate on where we want to go, and strategize on how to get there.
Entering college was relieving, exciting, and scary. Entering college in the middle of a pandemic made social dynamics and interaction weird and sometimes uncomfortable. From the classes I was in, I noticed a mix of apprehension, awkwardness, yet a pervasive desire to connect with others and put the reality of our circumstance somewhere else. Yet, entering college we did.
Situational realities aside, entering college is and always has been that slightly unsettling experience of getting closer to being “on our own” out in the world. Having to figure out what to do, what to say, and where to go. For much of our prior education, those decisions required less thought on our part and, I think, instilled a certain resignation in our abilities to think and decide for ourselves. However, being in the same situation as many of the educational institutions in this country, we are still subjected to much of the same dynamics.
A teacher gives us assignments, tells us roughly or specifically how to do them, and no matter how you feel about what you are given, there are consequences to stepping out of line and not doing what you’re told. I found myself in this position often. “Well, I think this assignment is irrelevant to what I want to do and I don’t understand why I need to learn it, but I will just do it because I want to keep good grades, stay in the school, please my parents, etc.” What is the effect of that? Sure once, twice, five times might not seem like anything is happening, but think about years of obedience and acquiescence. What does that prepare us to do once we are out? How does this get me closer to what it is I want to be doing with my life?
The sad reality is that these dynamics almost mirror that of the world we are being molded to enter.
The future looms over us whether we want to acknowledge it or not as we make our way through college or whatever it is we are doing during this time. Some people are clinging to what was and trying to puff that cigarette all the way down to the butt. Others are motivated by this fact and doing what they can to do well in school, building connections, “preparing” for life after school, and the like. But, rarely, as I have experienced it, are students substantially questioning the very institutions that are preparing us for this next step, and even less so doing anything to change these dynamics or the society that we will be entering.
We know things are fucked up. We see it, repost about it, post the occasional rant on our stories, attend a protest or two, put “BLM” in our bios, skim an article we saw from someone, posture with words like “capitalism,” “imperialism,” “elites,” and the like. Judging by what I see, it seems that this awareness that we have, which is apparent from the nature of the dialogue, is being taken for granted. “Yeah, capitalism is a failure, people shouldn’t have to rent themselves just to survive, our planet is on fire and those in power are actively accelerating the destruction... duh!” We are, without a question, the most radically widespread generation to date. Why is that? No, it isn’t just “our nature” or something else like that that doesn’t make any sense. It is because a whole lot of people put in a whole lot of work to actively change the public consciousness and usher in many of the policies and legislation that give us incredible freedoms.
The powerful, the ones in control of our prospects for the future, with open arms and ears welcome our posts, our posturing, our socialist aesthetic, as long as it doesn’t go so far as to seriously challenge power. That, is not seriously challenging anything and we know it. And this is what I’m trying to get at.
Why, with the knowledge we have and reality we face, are we not using our unique position, circumstance, and power to work with one another to put a stop to the reality we so vehemently disagree with? Maybe we don’t think we stand a fighting chance, maybe it seems pointless, or perhaps it simply just doesn’t seem appealing to dedicate ourselves to a fight of this kind. These are all plausible reasons to not do anything and there are probably more. I say plausible because these reasons may be likely for not getting serious, but it doesn’t mean I think they are convincing.
Putting aside the actions of corporations, politicians, and governments. Putting aside the fact that these institutions perpetuate widespread poverty, deprive much of the population of basically everything we need to survive (healthcare, education, food, housing, etc.), knowingly accelerate the climate catastrophe causing on average 20 million people to have to relocate every year, start wars when peaceful negotiations are possible, and on and on. Seriously, this list could go on for ages, but I think the reader will get the point and hopefully see the serious shit that is going on. Putting all that aside, and that is enough to get enraged, one thing continually doesn’t make any sense to me. Why is it that those in power, who for the most part are already in the latter portion of their lives, making decisions and dictating the terms for my future?
Shouldn’t it be that if there is a decision and some group of people will be greatly affected by the outcome, much more than the person making the decision, that they should have more say? Seems logical, intuitive, and practical. But, that in no way resembles reality. From workplaces, to schools, to little trivial things like our prospects for the future, this seemingly elementary principle is in turn decided by people who for the most part don’t even know we exist.
This isn’t how we make decisions among our friends. For example, If we are going to go eat and one person is vegan, we aren’t going to say, “well too bad we are going to the steakhouse,” even if everyone else wants to go. No, we allow that person, even if it’s a large group, to have more say because they in turn just won’t be able to eat. You’re right if you’re thinking, “with my friends there is empathy and with the ruling class there is an overwhelming lust for greed and power.” Just because that is true doesn’t mean we just have to internalize this as a fact of reality.
I am lucky to know people of all different talents, interests, strengths and weaknesses and grateful to have such a diverse group of people in my life. With that being said, I do believe and have seen that there are certain common threads of concern and care present in each of our lives. I see this in people who I would call my friends and in people who I’ve never met. It is these common threads that I am most interested and that I think hold the most potential for something huge.
Imagine if we were able to come together and use all our unique experiences to effect real, lasting change. To not only have a community of dedicated people working to rethink society, but also to literally reimagine the playing field for doing so. It’s about taking all of that creative potential and utilizing it towards an end goal that doesn’t just get likes and shares, but that frightens corporate CEO’s, that enrages politicians, that strategically disrupts and reimagines our society. It isn’t about homogenization, the total opposite in fact. It’s about coming together, as we are, with a shared, passionate vision for how our world could be reimagined.
Am I guaranteeing success? Not at all, but I’m not denying it either. What I am saying is that while we got the time, while we have the power and freedom of our youth, that we collectively use our intelligence, our creativity, and our undeniable force to imagine what could be and fight like hell for it.
We also don’t have to be vague in what we are fighting for. When someone asks what we want, we can say much more than to just stop the injustices ravaging our countries. We can articulate how we want our lives to be in greater detail than just vague moral values. And it doesn’t take someone with a PHD to tell us what we want or how to do it. There are a lot of people who make a lot of money off making sure that the elementary things they do at work are made to seem very complicated to people on the outside.
If we have learned anything in recent history, that is in the last few years, we have learned that many of the problems we face are systemic. The myth of the “bad apple” is eroding and people are waking up to see that the sickness is the system and not the interchangeable puppets who hold the positions. You take that guy down, they’ll have him replaced by the end of the hour.
What now? You’ve read this, maybe (and thank you if you did), and it struck a chord with you, whatever that means, you know you have talents or interests in something, but it isn’t clear what to do next, if there is a next for you (as it pertains to this piece). I don’t mean to make people feel guilty for living their lives the way they want, I’d rather people live fulfilling lives more than anything. Which is precisely why I think confronting the reasons why so many people can’t do that is worth a lifetime of work.
I’m also not here to come across as some altruistic, moral messiah. I barely know what I’m doing. I desperately want to know how to bring people together, how to get them to interact and collaborate, how to get them work together on incredibly creative, socially impactful projects that can start to open eyes and effect change. I know that I am a strong individual, but I know that for tasks such as these, there is no denying what a group of minds could come up with.
If we all can start to think about what we might be able to contribute, experiment with it, and eventually find one another to bring all these skills together, there is truly no predicting the effects. It will be what we make it. It will start small, but must keep growing. I write this piece in the hopes that people will recognize the unique position we are in, the positive effects that would come personally and collectively, and that in the prime of our youth, we as a generation can continue the fight for a reimagined society.
You’re a f#@king (not sure why I did that…normally I’d just write the word) good writer Cooper. Clear, concise and I reckon on the money. The young thing. It’s pretty important. Trying to imagine (not sure about reimagining, but that’s really just a pedantic thing) a better world for those growing into it as opposed to people like me who are growing out of it. One that doesn’t elicit the belief from the likes of Bill Baker and his daughter Allison of Stillwater, that life is brutal. Who wants life to be fucking (there ya go) brutal? Fuck (on a roll) that.
I didn’t want to just privately (in my head) like this or share it. I wanted to let you know I read it, dug it and think there’s meat in there (apologies to your vegan friends) so you don’t (perhaps you already don’t) feel like you’re just writing to yourself or into an unknown vast and possibly empty virtual space.