The first week back to school is an adventure where everything is new all over again. Everything from our classes to our surroundings, and our friends to our attitudes, has taken a slightly different form from the year before by welcoming the new and creating space for change.
We, as students, begin this year with an array of emotions. Many are excited and relieved to see the Iraq War finally come to a halt after seven and a half long, gruesome years, while others are fearful of what is to become of the country we just pulled out of.
Afghanistan is another issue. Will the troops we just brought back home be sent to Afghanistan in order to accomplish President Obama’s hope of begining to pull out of that country?
And what of this “Ground Zero mosque” people just can’t stop talking about? It seems that Ramadan’s becoming quite the eventful month this year as well as the last. We can’t forget the barricading of the Gaza Strip. Oh, and I can’t forget the upcoming Middle East peace talks.
Even with all this, our major concerns at this time remain directly involved with how many classes we are taking, what to write about in our research papers and how to get our professors to like us without going to their office hours.
With so much going on in the international scene regarding the Middle East and Islam, the politics of the region are now, more than ever, extremely relevant to the makeup of our international system and a key to understanding and potentially helping solve our economic crisis.
This is our chance as students, as intellectuals, members of a highly functioning and progressive society to venture into the misunderstood.
I mean, what is Islam, really? Why does the Middle East look the way it does? Who’s “extreme” and who’s not? For the past ten years, this area has been a catalyst for world events. It has been the eye of the storm, so to speak.
My theory? Fixing relations with the political bodies of the area, along with working towards solving major conflicts in the region such as that of Palestine and Israel will ultimately provide us with a substantially healthier international system — one that places peace and human rights at the very top of its agenda. Period.
However, Obama and his administration can’t be held responsible for these changes alone. It is up to America’s youth to better understand the world around them, and strive to build a place with a deeper respect for human life and basic human rights.
For the next few months, we will all become extremely wrapped up in our schoolwork, our jobs and everything else that deals with college life. We must always keep an open mind to others and their cultures, ideas, and points of view — you never know when a random fact can change the world.
Remember the following: Apathy kills and — as Keith Olbermann likes to put it — “This is America, Damn it!” where people and principles mean more than anything else. Because of this, we’ll always be the “big man on campus.” And that’s a guarantee.
Dina Al-Hayek is a senior political science major and a columnist for the Daily 49er.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.
