In case you haven’t noticed, there is an abundance of ‘things’ happening in the world. Midterm elections are approaching. Gun control. #MeToo. We’re mindlessly clutching our TV screens for a number—Category 4? How many women? How much debt?

A message to the next generation, our generation, who will be addressing these issues—college is not the only answer to these questions.

Yes, it is a facilitator that enables us to learn how to solve ‘real world’ problems. But, the world consists of people—not degrees.

We need people to solve people problems, not tuition or acceptance rates or class sizes. These ambiguous, non-contextual numbers have no relevance to our self-worth or our ability to make a change in the world.

People grow because they are thrown into an environment where they’re forced to make decisions for themselves, which, in the end, helps develop their personal moral codes. And this doesn’t solely apply to college. Life is a constant battle that forces us to question our principles. It’s not about getting into the ‘best’ school or taking the ‘hardest’ classes, just as it’s not about picking a political side based on the headlines or what a friend says.

It’s about actually creating constructive political and social discourse in the classroom and in the real world. We must move past the concept of winning an argument and focus on approaching it as people.

So, I challenge you to read the following articles not in accordance to what you heard last night on the news or what you’ve been brought up to believe.

Push back against them. Question them. Ask yourself: What is right? What makes sense based on your experiences and principles?

Sincerely,

Emma Stout

Editor-in-chief