If you’ve lived in the residence halls, you’re probably familiar with the conversation that only occurs at 2 a.m. in the hall lounges.

“Well, saying you’re a non-conformist leads you to conform to another group.”

“Yeah and communism and socialism are almost the same thing, but both are idealistic and can never happen. It has only happened on the Smurfs with Papa Smurf as the patriarchal leader.”

And blah, blah, blah. It isn’t intellectualism; it’s pseudo-intellectualism and it consists of incoherent ramblings about things that do not constitute change and progress. Change is about action, not about conversations that you have overheard from other pseudo-intellectuals.

Change is finding a cause and being an active member within that cause to make some progress. Such progression does not have to be a bumper-sticker line like “Save the planet” – or “I’d rather be naked.” It could be finding a worthy cause that will affect someone’s life.

This is the case of my roommate, who has taken up a cause to help a young boy go to school. The little boy’s name is Ducey George and he is autistic and has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. His room and board at this special school in Wisconsin costs $1,000 a month. Instead of adopting a “woe is me” attitude, my roommate and her family started the Ducey George foundation, which raises money for George’s schooling. If you want to advocate change within this little boy’s life, check out the Web site, www.startoutendup.org.

As much as we complain about all the things we have to do, are the things we do really that productive? Or are they self-serving activities?

Most of our time is consumed with ourselves and there is nothing wrong with being selfish at times. However, such self-absorption leads to stagnation and stagnation will eventually lead to regression.

We, as college students, should be the most active among changing things that we do not agree with or things that we support.

When we were in high school, we were too young to instigate change because we were not of age. Now that we have this ability to create and transform any injustices, we become too consumed with procrastination. And the things we do change are superficial and trivial.

Dying your hair blond, growing a goatee or adopting a communist philosophy – that’s all well and good. But once your roots turn brown again or you shave at last, what changes have those things made in the life of anyone other than yourself?

None.

So, as we sit in a classroom reading about the changes others have made in the past, we should recognize the changes we could make for the future. Now is the time to realize that “I” is not the only one that matters.

Change may be the only thing that stays constant, but progress is constituted by the unselfishness of humanity.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.