On Jan. 20, 2009, many Americans witnessed President Barack Obama deliver his inauguration address by any means necessary. Many Northeastern students skipped class to stay home and watch his speech, and even more students crowded around flat screen TVs in the Student Union to listen to our new president take his oath of office. Some of us were even lucky enough to be in a classroom where the teacher set aside the lesson plan for the day and let us watch the speech instead.
We watched. We listened. We celebrated. But now what do we do?
Obama spoke of a new era of responsibility. He explained that this new era requires “a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”
This is our call to action. No longer should this generation spend their adolescent years in ignorance and their adult years in dissatisfaction. Obama promises change, but his promise of change comes with a very important clause: we need to do our individual parts to make this change happen.
The individual changes we make do not have to be spectacular. These changes can be as simple as volunteering at a homeless shelter or donating money to charity. The change we make can even be something as effortless as being kind to a stranger on the bus. If everyone of us makes even one small change in the way we treat others, we can collectively make a huge difference.
Obama has already restored the hope that the youth of our generation will no longer be indifferent to politics, but we still need to encourage everyone’s continued involvement in the world around them and also to encourage them that their voice can make a difference.
Because a large portion of Northeastern students plan to become educators one day, this encouragement is even more important because we have the task of ultimately raising and influencing a new nation of politically aware citizens.
We can continue to celebrate Obama’s presidency. We can continue to listen to Obama’s words. We can continue to watch his every move as president. But we must also rise up to the challenge of taking part in this change that will happen. If we do not, the change we all hope and dream of will come later rather than sooner.