Apathy. Commonly we hear this word tacked on to groups of people, whether it is a generation of individuals or a classroom full of uncaring pupils. For example, I recall playing a video game when I was younger. If you picked a certain apathetic conversation option that was neither yes or no, all of the characters around you began to chant "Apathy is death."

Recently while I was surfing the web, I came across actress Debby Ryan's Tumblr account. Her blog title is "apathy is so passé".

But what does this all mean? Is apathy really all that bad?

While I may not agree that apathy is "death", I do believe that apathy is not living. It is most certainly "passé". Let's compare two people for you, Pete and Adam.

Passionate Pete does everything he does with purpose. Nothing he does is done with indifference. News stories about police brutality, mass killings across the world, and injustice impact him deeply. Passionate Pete takes action. He researches EVERYTHING about these events. He isn't satisfied until he makes his voice heard, until he makes some sort of a difference. Passionate Pete doesn't let himself get discouraged, even if the difference he makes may seem microscopic to people.

Passionate Pete also uses his passion as an asset in his personal life. When he wants something, he makes sure he works until he reaches it. He sets goals, he accepts criticism, and he forms opinions. Rather than letting all the discouraging things of life get him down and rather than getting put off by looking at everything that is holding him back, he lets it motivate him.

Let's take a look at a real life example of a Passionate Pete, Eminem. Early today, I was listening to "When I'm Gone" from Eminem's album "Curtain Call". The lyrics to this song are dark, deep, and all too real. If you know anything about Eminem, you know that Slim Shady has gone through a whole heck of a lot in his life. The odds are stacked up against him, between his father leaving the family, growing up in a rough area in Detroit, and a broken love life. Eminem could have very well let his circumstances get the best of him and he could have ended up much like his own father. However, he uses those experiences to become one of the most well known rappers around and he uses his life experiences to fuel his music. He raps about his life and uses his music to make a difference and to reach people who can relate to his music and see him as an inspiration.

Another example of a Passionate Pete, for all of you out there who are more musical fans or history buffs rather than rap fans, is founding father Alexander Hamilton, whom the famous Broadway play "Hamilton" is based on. Hamilton's father left him right after he was born, his mother died, and he lived in poverty in the Caribbean. His home got destroyed by a hurricane. All of the odds possible are against him. However instead of his circumstances discouraging him, it sparks a flaming ambition in his life to live a life that means something. The recurring theme for our protagonist is that he is "not throwing away his shot". His shot at living a life that people will tell the story of. He oozes passion.

However, everything in life has an opposite: an antagonist to the protagonist. In this case, that is Apathetic Adam.

Do you ever meet those people who are just determined to come across as uncaring, and who just seem to not care? An Apathetic Adam is complacent. Complacency is not always a bad place to be; however Apathetic Adam is always complacent. He lets his circumstances define him. He lacks the drive to go out and make something of himself, he instead is fine with staying where he is. He has opinions, sure. He may think that Donald Trump and/or Hillary Clinton are horrible choices for president, and he may be vocal about it. But he doesn't DO anything. He shares an article about something uneducated Trump said, or some article about those godforsaken Clinton emails. But when asked on what he will do about it, he replies that he just will not vote.

Apathetic Adam doesn't set goals for himself. He just kind of goes where the wind takes him and in a way, gives up hope on making something of his life.

As much as I would not like to admit it, I myself have been an example of an Apathetic Adam. I decided to stay blissfully ignorant about events happening on the news and in life. I didn't want to acknowledge them, so I ignored them and decided to not care about making a difference. I let people project themselves onto me and manipulate me into the person that THEY wanted me to be rather than being myself, and I didn't care. I told myself that I was too small to actually make a difference, so why bother?

I refuse to believe that my generation is made up of apathetic people. No matter what older generations decide we are, we have the choice to be an Apathetic Adam or a Passionate Pete. Inside of us lies both of these extremes. But as Debby Ryan's Tumblr bio states, apathy is SO passé. Don't let your circumstances define you or bring you down. Use them to fuel that Passionate Pete that all of us can be. You CAN make a difference, do not throw away your shot.