Greater Truths I’ve Learned in College

With less than one month to go before I leave college, it has not really begun to sink in that this period in my life is almost done.

Four years ago, I was a very different person from the one I am today. Although, because I experienced the change alongside myself I probably don’t understand fully how much I have really changed.

I think underneath it all, there is probably some core being that is me, surrounded by a layer of social and familial conditioning that has been built up over the course of my life. College has served to condition me in some aspects, but also break down some of the negative layers that existed when I first got here.

It is amazing how much one’s life can change in only a few short years. It has been so unpredictable that I truly wonder if any of it has been in my control, or if my life was destined to go in a certain way.

When I first got here, I was so nervous. Basically just a perpetually anxious person. I worried too much about nothing at all. I came in understanding very little about myself, the world we live in, and what life is supposed to be like. I thought that college would uncover some greater truths about the universe. I would finally start to understand what this is all about.

Through taking advatage of nearly every single travel opportunity my school has to offer, I found a passion I was unaware I had before I came here. All that I ever knew was a very small and limited perspective – my own. Living in the suburbs of Philadelphia my whole life blinded me to a lot of different viewpoints and possiblities.

I left the country for the first time after my freshman year of college. Until then, I truly believed that every single place probably just looked similar and functioned in similar ways. Because of that, I never really had any interest in traveling as a child.

As I write this now, it seems obvious to me that every place on the planet is different. Each culture paints a different picture of the world that highlights their values. Every group of people faces slightly different challenges in life. It is easy to get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget that there are others out there too.

Still underneath it all, just like we have our own core beings, I think there is a core of humanity. There are certain universal truths that exist within all of the cultural and social conditioning that is surrounding it. Everyone wants to feel love. The bodies we are born into: black, white, asian, male, female, etc. were out of our control. But unfortunately, although this truth exists for everyone, it is the superficial and skin deep aspects that are used to divide us.

I would go even further to say that this truth is not just apparent for human beings, but for every living being in the universe. We are all one.

Unfortunately beside this beautiful truth exists a more sinister reality. Just because the truth exists does not mean that everyone knows or accepts it. We have created a world that does not accept everyone for the bodies they were born into. We live in a world that values a very limited perspective, and that perspective is white.

Growing up in the suburbs, it was the only perspective that was offered. Racist comments and jokes were the norm. Spending days or weeks on end in a completely white bubble skewed my perception of reality. At the time I was so unaware of it all. I didn’t realize there was only one viewpoint offered because it is easy to remain ignorant when it is all you know.

On a larger scale, this same white perspective has control over every single large institution in our society. It wants to uphold itself, and it does so by continuously disenfranchising people of color over and over again. White people are fed this lie that tells them racism is over. They don’t need to think about it anymore. And they don’t because talking about racism is a taboo subject.

But when every single system we have in place from education to criminal justice to healthcare repeatedly puts white people at the top and everyone else at the bottom, the only way to fix it all is to have a complete restructuring of society. We need to have a revolution because equality does not exist yet.

I know that I don’t fully understand the complete realities of racism in our country (and even less so, our world), and it is something that I need to continuously educate myself on to be aware of my own implicit biases that have been placed on me as a result of my own social conditioning. But, college has been a start. It has allowed me to open my eyes to the perspectives of others.

My journey has just begun. Every single realization I have had over these past few years has opened up another 100 doors to investigate further. I am aware how ignorant I still am, but at the same time, I know I have a lot of work to do. I know I don’t fully understand the implications of racism and how I have benefitted from a grossly injust system, but now that my eyes have been opened, they will remain that way.