Society portrays college as the best years of our life. Then it supposedly is all downhill from there.
We are supposed to get a job and pay taxes. Maybe even get married. Then there is all this business about having children. What’s up with that?
Yes, for roughly 8,000 ASU students, there will be no more Friday night frat parties, one-night stands, caffeine-induced all-nighters and other things that have come to define college life. While this may seem like the end of an era, we must support our graduates in their future endeavors. Life does not necessarily end once a student receives the diploma that he or she has worked so hard for; rather, this is where life begins.
Gone are the safety nets of the classroom and the educational institution. Graduates are thrown into the real world and expected to contribute to society with the knowledge we have gained in their tenure at ASU. Even more exciting, though, these people finally have a chance to become what they have aspired to be for so long.
While the real world seems frightening, we must not be discouraged. As our graduates venture into the unknown, it will be extremely easy for them to become jaded.
This, however, is the most damaging prospect for our nation. Most students in college, conservative or liberal, possess an idealistic, altruistic nature. As I have walked around the ASU campus, it is refreshing to see fire in the eyes of students; fire that tells the world change is afoot. However, many lose that as they graduate. The passion and drive that college students possess is exactly what the U.S. needs at this precise moment in history.
Our nation is currently at a turning point. With a broken health care system, an education infrastructure desperately in need of reform and an economy that has seen better days, a jaded population is the last thing we need. This class of graduates has a chance to be a breath of fresh air to the public. Optimism will help us through this difficult time; we will emerge a stronger nation because of the confidence our citizens possessed.
It seems that through all of the controversy surrounding ASU’s decision not to award our commencement speaker an honorary degree, some important symbolism was missed. To some, President Obama is a symbol of hope, to others he represents the dawn of a new era in politics. The public is putting stock in him and the abstract ideas he represents.
But why should it just be up to President Obama to represent these ideals? As college graduates across the nation receive their diplomas over the next couple weeks, they should represent these values as well.
Ghandi once said, “Be the change you would like to see in the world.” If graduates adopt this mindset, they will not become jaded; instead, we will have people fighting for what they believe is right. If this year is any indication of the future, it seems our nation will be in good hands.
This class has a unique opportunity ahead of it. While our nation’s population grows older, this class can chart a new direction for our nation. It is important that our graduates keep the positive attitude that has come to set college students apart.
Reach Andrew at andrew.hedlund@asu.edu.
