One of the things I've really learned this year is the importance of acting to effect change. Growing up so comfortably in a prosperous country has made us somewhat complacent, I believe. Certainly we voice our opinions on the state of education, health care, and public services on occasion, but how often do we do something more than simply complaining? Either we are extremely cynical and believe that nothing that we do can make any sort of impact, or we are naively idealistic and believe that things will get better on their own, without any effort on our parts. Even worse, we might simply be too lazy, too indifferent to want to work to make changes. I think that I have all of these attitudes at some point or another, sometimes even concurrently. The main cure for this crushing inertia, I believe, is passion. Only when you feel very strongly about something will you be willing to work to get things done, and you'll want to get them done now rather than later. This has been my experience at least.
When I enrolled for courses last year, I woke up at 5am so that I would be ready and waiting to log into the Student Web Services when it opened at 6am. I desperately wanted to get into the Japanese language class. It didn't happen, of course; the class was probably full long before I was even close to being allowed to register. I'd even go so far as to guess that even second year students have a difficult time getting into the class. At any rate, I was disappointed but not particularly surprised. There always had been and always would be more demand for Japanese than space and if I didn't get into the class in first year, well I was merely joining the ranks of hundreds of other first years throughout history.
But now I can see that my attitude was all wrong. Why should two hundred students be turned away every year when I attend one of the largest, most prestigious universities in the province, if not country? As I talked to my East Asian History T.A. throughout the academic year I began to realize that the reason why there were so few lecture sections for first year Japanese was because of people with attitudes like mine! Why should we, paying students feel at the mercy of the university administrations? We are the lifeblood of the institution, without our school fees and alumni donations, where would the university be? We have a right, no, an obligation to ensure that our money is being used the way we want it to be. If every frustrated first year Japanese hopeful wrote a letter to the dean and to the head of the East Asian Studies department, how quickly do you think they would listen and give us the classes that we asked for? We lose everything by our silent, resigned acceptance, yet we have nothing to lose from speaking out.
In my last East Asian History class a petition was sent around that was meant to show our dissatisfaction with the way the East Asian Studies department is being handled. It's a start, but only a start. If people want to make their voices heard, then they must make their voices many, as well as loud, and persistent.
There are other ways to take hold of our education as well. Next year I will do everything in my power to organize a Japanese popular culture event at the university, because I am passionate about anime and manga. I want to be able to share my love for anime and manga with others, and not to just sit around wondering why no one has ever held such an event before.
Last night, technically this morning, as it was 12am, my suitemate told me as we were taking a late night stroll (yes, around the city at midnight) "carpe diem," seize the day! I didn't really think about it too much until we were finished our walk and we were sitting outside talking about all the ways we'd like to contribute to the school next year--her through the Student Activity Council, and me in East Asian Studies. The discussion turned to how people, ourselves included, didn't really make an effort to take ownership of anything: our school experience, our city, our country, our lives. It struck me then, as it strikes me now, that "carpe diem" means more than to seize the day, it also means to take hold of our lives, to take responsibility for them, and to do everything in our power to effect changes for the betterment of our own lives and the lives of others. Just think about it. I know I have, and am.
P.S. - Having read my posts on the topic of love, a friend sent me this quote today: "My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in." I don't know who first said it, but it definitely amused me, and it's definitely a "keeper." =Þ
