A Major Change

When I first signed up for an independent study, I wasn’t planning to spend as much time on it as I had. I figured, two hours a week tops, and I would be fine. I ended up spending many hours in the library doing research, and tons of time doing actual fieldwork. From research to activism, I became very involved in the study of our environment. I hold what I learned in doing this study very close to my heart, to the point that I switched majors from Media and Communications to Political Science with a minor in Environmental Studies.
I began this study with the goal of discovering how the media effects how people treat our planet. I wanted to see how big of an impact the media had on getting people to recycle, conserve nonrenewable resources, and live a more green life. As a media major, I made a public service announcement as a class project on water conservation. I also wrote many news pieces on why citizens of the planet earth must do everything we could to improve the health of our home. However, I started to feel like this was not enough.
The media can only have as big an impact as their audience. If people are not interested in a news story, they will flip the page, change the station, or turn the radio knob. Therefore, I was only going change the views of people, rather than having a direct effect on environmental conservation; and changing people’s views would only work if they chose to listen and take what I said to heart. I came to realize that if I really wanted to make an impact, I would have to take a hands on grassroots approach. I decided to switch to a major in Political Science. Saving the world seems so much more important to me than having my own radio show or working behind the scenes in a television studio.
It seems that the only way to make Americans make small changes in their lives to better the environment is if it is by law. From doing research and grassroots projects, I have found that most people only care about saving five cents and five seconds. The average person doesn’t care about the fate of their planet. They say that it won’t affect them, and that it doesn’t matter. I’ve heard ignorance (“I love global warming, I hate the cold weather!”) and people who think that passing laws to protect the planet will cost them tax dollars.
As a political science major, I have the opportunity to make change by being a lobbyist, activist, attorney, or even by holding a political office. Rather than talking about a revolution, I can “be the change I want to see in the world” (Gandhi). When people ask me what I want to do when I get out of school, I tell them that I want to save the world. The knowledge I acquired through doing this study is just the tip of the iceberg that will allow me to do that.
I'm currently working on a report of my findings over the past semester. There’s so much more that I want to know, and so much more that I am curious about. However, there is only so much you can do in four months! The report is essentially what I have done, and I’m very proud of it. It has seriously opened my eyes and my heart to what needs to be done and what I am capable of doing. Hopefully, the average person will realize what I have, and see that it’s time to save the one thing that they depend on for life.