Written by Maggie Raker, Culture, Wellness & Lifestyle Editor
In a recent class I attended, a professor was attempting to poll a class. Receiving a mix of glazed eyes and quiet mumbling, my professor finally asked a very simple question; he asked students to raise their hand if they were excited for their future.
In a room full of twenty students, every single one kept their hand down.
My professor approached me afterward and asked me if I thought most students felt that way. I admitted that it does seem more and more that way. Last year I wrote an article assessing activist Mariame Kaba’s article “Hope Is A Discipline” in response to a mood of hopelessness on campus and amongst my generation. Kaba’s model of hope is one based not solely on personal comfort, but on hope as an action to be practiced and communal care as a goal more worthy than self-comfort.
I wrote that article and a year later still found myself with my hand and head down when my professor asked about the future, so I’ll be the first to admit– practicing hope is easier said than done. But, in the style of Kaba’s collective care, I’d like to offer up a couple specific actions to help you practice. If you’re like me and itching for something to actually do, here are a few easy options to start with that I’ve been trying recently:
Find “third places”. This is a sociological term used to describe locations that are outside of the two usual social spaces of work and home. This might sound easy or obvious, but the trick is to visit new and unusual places with the specific intent of being in community and away from routine. It can be invaluable to remind yourself that you are a part of a community while at the same time reminding yourself that you are capable of breaking your own routine and making change in your life. You have independence and agency– practice using it, even in small ways. Last week, I took a nap in Green Hill Park next to the river, and a little further back than that I used Sheetz’ 24-hour nature to have a place off-campus to study past midnight. It’s simple, it’s silly, it’s something to remind yourself there’s a world outside of your bubble.
Block AI. Not everyone might jump at this one, but in my discussion with my professor we both agreed that a major factor in the hopeless attitude toward the future is the constant inevitability of headlines. The first example that came to mind in my life was AI– a developing product which we, as consumers, are being told is inevitable. Get on board or get left behind. I am not the first to suggest that this isn’t the truth, but I know and speak to students and professors alike almost every day who truly feel they have no choice other than to get used to it. It’s been made more difficult to avoid AI than it is to use it. For me, I needed desperately to remind myself that I have some amount of agency and that I am, at the very least, able to say no for myself. I highly recommend searching how to block automatic AI settings in your search browser and other apps and even going a step further and calling your representatives.
Create more than you consume. This has been a recent kitschy social media saying, but that advice is good to hear. If you have the opportunity, plan to create something, whether it be a craft, a poem, a blog, a YouTube video, a homemade meal, or anything else creative and (ideally) sustainable. This generation has grown up hearing again and again that consumers are creating more waste and destroying more resources than ever before. At the same time, we’re told that media literacy is going down and creative jobs are less and less respected. Take time to foster your own creativity and make something pleasant. It’s something simple that we’re all capable of, and it’s important to know and prove that.
In the words of Kaba, “if it’s significant to one or two people, I feel good about that. If I’m making my stand in the world and that benefits my particular community of people, the people I designate as my community, and I see them benefiting by my labor, I feel good about that. That actually is enough for me.” These steps may seem small. But if you value even small actions as a part of your practice, you slowly develop hope and community as skills.
