Abhorring student apathy
Letter to the Editor
Pick your vice; today's society offers us a multitude of personal flaws to which we can choose to succumb. You name it — addictions, hatred, envy, vanity — the list goes on. Licentiousness is as universal as are the complaints about parietals here at Notre Dame. Just don't let your choice be indifference. It is by far the weakest form of living.
I would venture to say that most of the Notre Dame student population finds life worth living and takes action to perpetuate it. Nonetheless, the apathy surrounding us is like a colorless, odorless and poisonous gas. Though you can't see or smell it, it will eventually kill you.
What I can see is that people have great ideas here, as should be expected in the thinktank that is this University. But there is altogether too much conformity to the norm — too much acceptance of policy without questioning its validity. Sure, there is a common thread strung throughout the demographics and background of the vast majority of Domers that preserves the groupthink that has emerged. Still, there isn't a reason why people have to adhere to imposed values or standards. What may have once been appealing in the homogeneous conditions that exist here, is now appalling. Too often lately I've felt like I'm walking around an Orwellian novel of preprogrammed individuals, too complacent with their prescribed way of living that they don't stop to question whether it's really what constitutes their self-actualization.
While I'm not suggesting anarchy, I am advocating a release of inhibitions and orthodoxy to the point where we no longer ride the fence but take life to our own destinations.
Why must it take cliche mid-life crises for people to start questioning what they really want out of life? Look around you. Is it what you want? If yes, then I challenge you to continuously reassess your answer to that question. If not, change it. That's the beauty of all of this — it's elastic. Passion is a virtue that should not be missed. I guarantee you will get more out of your experiences if you put a little passion into them. It adds another dimension to life. And yeah, you'll get burned sometimes, but at least you will have taken part in the lighting of the match that contacted the paper that made the blaze begin. That's the important stuff. So pick a side, make yourself vulnerable, join me in my abhorrence of apathy.
Michelle Simon
Sophomore
Breen-Phillips Hall
April 5, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Tuesday, April 18, 2000
