Writing to Congressman: Small voices can make a big difference
Currently the world is going through changes, but do you think it is going through large enough ones to count?
People today believe that their individual opinion will not matter when it comes down to the larger picture, and that’s a real problem. If people stop taking action and participating in events, no matter their size, then any advancement we could have in the future will end with a sudden halt. While some still stick to the mindset of their individual opinions doing nothing, others, like Residential Assistant Lindsey of Centennial Hall, have taken a stand in an attempt to do something in deciding the fate of this country.
Tuesday, the twenty fourth of February at eight o’clock, this Residential Assistant hosted an event in Centennial Hall lounge appropriately titled “Writing to Congressman”. In this event, any student was allowed to come and write a letter to any of the members of congress or higher on any topic that he or she found to be important and discussion worthy.
Students from all over campus were welcomed to come and share their worries, opinions, and hopes with one another about the current state of our government while writing their letters. This event, in particular, received a lot of attention from justice, law, and business majors who were very interested in sharing their opinions to the government on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the legalization of cannabis to changes in the current education syllabi that schools and colleges use.
When I asked Lindsey what the likelihood of these letters getting released to their designated recipients she replied, “Hopefully Tuesday, March 3rd. That’s when I’ll be getting the stamps to send them.” I had shown up the event at around eight-thirty that night, which was around half an hour from when the event was designated to begin and there were already a plentiful amount of letters piled up from students.
While I was there, I interviewed Earl Barnes, a history major student, and asked what he was writing about and to whom for the event. Earl explained to me that he was writing to Connecticut’s current governor, Dannel Malloy, about hoping to see some changes in the Connecticut school systems.
“I really believe that events like these are what make the senators, governors, and even hopefully the president stand back for a moment and understand the severity of some problems that the public feels are getting ignored,” said Earl.
And he’s right: a lot of these problems do get ignored by the government because of their intense focus on other diplomatic issues. But maybe it really is the small events like these, in quantity, that can help bring issues like these to our government’s attention.
The event showed great promise at being something that could start a revolution of what needs to be changed in the future of not only our school, but the United States in general. More schools need to have opportunities, like these, for students to write to their government leaders and address their concerns with how the country is going. With more events akin to this one, maybe we won’t have to be so afraid of our countries future and instead perhaps be a bit more excited for its arrival.
