Hey Cobbers, I know last week I was a bit pessimistic, and while I still think we have a ways to go, I can’t deny that we Cobbers do it right in supporting each other when it comes down to it. We have each other’s backs, and when I came here I was taught what families are. This week’s message has a particular spin in the service direction. We have a lot of groups on campus that aim at giving back, especially to those who need it. We have the Dance Marathon (this Saturday!), the Colleges Against Cancer group (organizes our own Relay for LIFE!), and now we have a new team. “Knock on Wood” is a team signed up for the Fargo MS Walk in the name of a fellow Cobber. Friends of mine have had their newsfeeds flooded, my work has stepped up to support me, and my Twitter has a few tweets out in the twittersphere! All because my friends and I decided that everyone needs to get involved.
Needless to say, I get a little excited when I can help out, and I think that’s ok. I love to motivate those around me and when I can do that for a cause, it’s best to let Steamroller Katelyn go. I would love to see more openly passionate Cobbers on campus. I know a lot of us have causes that mean something special, and I want to see more of us engage in the community to show support.
Being in our bubble does wonders for us: it is comfortable, and we can hang out with our friends. However, I think when we get involved with our fellow Fargo-Moorhead people we really show that college kids can have an impact. We are young, involved and have so many contacts at our fingertips. We know people from all over the country and have diversified friend groups that make us perfect for calling attention to things. I mean, I’m sitting on chat right now, and I have people from Texas, Massachusetts and even India that I can send a message to and have them help me. For some reason, it seems we are engineered to get the word out.
Our generation has social media on lock. We can’t help it. I have a Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pottermore, Imgur, Reddit and a Snapchat account. I can’t help but talk to everyone I meet, and yet, we have a serious disconnect between what we tweet about and what we actually do. I can tweet about how much I want to be green, but I have definitely bought quite a few bottles of Aquafina, or Facebook calls to action and have six people share them but do we watch them?
Sorry, but I want more. I want more fun, happiness and connectedness. I want a few of us to commit to what we are doing and take a few friends along for the ride. When we commit we need to throw our heart and souls into things because we can influence more than we think.
