Congratulations on winning the presidency, Barack Obama, but now you have a lot of work to do.

As I go forward into this semester and begin to feel the strain of academic assignments, my thoughts and prayers will be with our new president. Whatever stress I will be feeling I am positive will pale in comparison to leading a country that is in a desperate state.

On top of trying to pull our economy out of its downward spiral, Obama also faces the growing concern that our schools are hardly adequate and our education system is falling behind many other countries. Our warming earth also needs to be considered since the rising temperature has a lot to do with the United States. Add in our involvement in Iraq, and I would say that his agenda is pretty overwhelming.

However, Obama is not going to be the only one who turns this country around.
We have achieved our long-awaited change in leadership. But more important than having a change in a country’s government is a change in its people.

I don’t care how great you think Obama is or if you think he is the anti-Christ – everyone in this country needs to realize that we are all responsible for the situation we are in. Therefore, we all need to work to get out of it.

In his inauguration speech, Obama said, “It is time to dust ourselves off and remake America.” I could not agree more. But what can I do, as a Quinnipiac student, to remake America?

I feel helpless as I watch my parents struggle with changes in their jobs. If by some miracle your family has not been affected by our dismal economy, you must still recognize the financial problems our country is facing.

I think it is easier for students to brush off all the problems, to only focus on their own lives and leave the other stuff to the government. I am guilty of this mentality. I am not asking students to take on all of the country’s problems; I merely hope that we all could be a little more aware. I think despite our majors, we all need to have a basic understanding of why this has happened to our country. We have all grown up in an age of consumption.

We have been conditioned into taking, not giving. We think in terms of instant gratification, and do not take into account long term affects. Since birth we have been told subliminally that “if you do not buy this, you are not good enough.” No wonder the country has more debt than assets and is addicted to the credit card; our lives revolve around what we own. Yet now our lifestyles have exceeded what we can afford.
The whole situation is extremely overwhelming. I am thankful I am not Obama because truthfully, I do not have the answers. The only thing I can suggest to myself and other students is to steer clear of ignorance. We need to be the change we seek, to learn that our habits are the problem.

So keep studying. Do not lose faith in the fact that you can be whatever you want to be. What this country needs from all of us is to be passionate again, to work hard, to ask questions and demand a change. America is the best country in the world. It deserves the best people.