I've taken a lot of courses at Towson University. Some great, really eye-opening ones and some not so much. I've taken courses that interest me, courses that are required for my major, and courses that fill a core requirement. I've used the knowledge I've gained from a few of these classes and applied what I've learned to the real world to some extent. But no other course has really even come close to affecting me, intriguing me, and changing me quite as much as my Fall 2012 Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Peace Studies class.

What stands out about this class? There's no sugar-coating in this class. It's taught by pacifist Colman McCarthy, one of the most gentle, peaceful, caring, souls I've ever had the pleasure of coming across in my short twenty years of being alive. In a way, Mr. McCarthy is the most advanced human being I've gotten to know, and maybe by the end of this article you'll understand why.

Mr. McCarthy has turned me into a firm believer that schools all across the country - elementary, middle, high schools, and colleges - should create a Peace Studies department. I've realized how far we are from a peaceful world, how primitive man is, how little we've changed since our existence, how violent the world is, and how important peace is. And now, here is an interview with Colman McCarthy.

When asked what peace is, McCarthy responded, "Peace is the result of love—and if love was easy, we’d all be good at it."

Therefore, we're not very good at loving since we haven't reached peace.

McCarthy then proposes the realization that, "Humanity is still in the early stages of evolution." He claims we are "just getting our footing, just starting (to) think that we have alternatives to violence."

The problem with achieving peace lies in our short life spans. It's "difficult to see beyond our own lifetimes." Ex. Global Warming. No one alive today will be alive when global warming becomes relevant, so why worry about it?

It's very difficult to convince "the education establishment of the need to give peace studies the equivalency in the curriculum to math and science."

This has been a struggle for McCarthy and pacifists alike. People in charge don't value peace, not as much as other subjects in every school at least. Maybe if people understood how uniting and brilliant peace is, there would be more talk of incorporating Peace Studies classes. Science, math, engineering, etc. are subjects many people don't thrive in. Anyone can improve in becoming a more peaceful person though. Peace is one of the most applicable and relevant subjects out there.

I then asked McCarthy what it means to love and he responded with, "Love means seeing the good in people, ideas and events—and taking positive nonviolent action to spread it."

This is yet another thought I agree with McCarthy on. I tell myself to find a way to get along with people. It means being adaptable. Look at the theater kids, the jocks, the chess players, the film kids, the poets, the musicians, the models, the gays, the straights, the blacks, the whites, the Jews, the Catholics, the atheists, the conservatives, the liberals, the loners, the depressed, the mentally-ill, the traumatized, the poor, the rich and all in-between. See the good in these people. Every person has something good to offer for this world. You may be aware of your potential or maybe it's still hidden deep within you. Is it good to be friends with people that are very similar to you? Yes! Is it good to be friends with people who are very different than you? Yes!

As for my definition of love, it would include the concepts of respect and acceptance. Respect is a mental acknowledgement that those around you are not the same person as you and are different in many ways that cannot be changed. It's knowing that difference is okay. Acceptance is essentially throwing that acknowledgment out the window so you can notice the beauty in different people. When we learn to see people for qualities other than their differences, that’s when you know how to love.

As far as peaceful progressed is concerned, McCarthy doesn't think we'll make any "until every grade in every school in every country is offering courses in pacifism—the theory—and nonviolence, the method."

I'm split on our progress. We're still miles away from an even remotely peaceful society but I think movements like the legalization of gay marriage, growing awareness of contemporary racism, and the emergence of feminism prove to be significant strides in the right direction.

McCarthy encourages us to think about solutions now rather than later. "If you are hungry, or can’t find a job, or are dying of an incurable disease or are about to be killed by a US drone airplane or are locked in (a) prison cell 23 hours a day, or are the relative of someone shot by a cop, long term solutions are meaningless. Forget them. Think short-term."

Sounds like there's no time to waste. People are in pain at every moment somewhere in the world. Some tortured, some homeless, some sick, some beaten, and many without love in their life.

Finally, I asked McCarthy a question a lot of renown pacifists probably get thrown at them: "Why is peace so important? "Because the opposite is so ruinous."

McCarthy has this way about him of saying exactly what's true with the world bu using profound word choice that the rest of us never really considered. Sure you hear people saying they are all for peace and violence is bad but to actually ask yourself "Why is peace good? How is violence bad?" isn't so common a thing we do.

"Ruinious." The opposite of peace is so ruinious. What a strikingly stark word. This answer makes you think about two things. 1) Since we aren't at peace, we must be violent, the opposite of peace. So violence is the ruinous part. 2) What's ruined? I think people's lives are what's ruined by violence. People are torn apart. The world is divided, not united. The world is harmful. The world is ruinous.

So what kind of violence is going on in the world today?

"Military violence, domestic violence, racial violence, homophobic violence, economic violence, legal violence, illegal violence, gun violence, self-inflicted violence, verbal violence, obstetrical violence, drug violence, prison violence, agribusiness violence, violence against animals, academic violence. Pick one and start working to decrease it."

There are countless areas for improvement.

McCarthy concludes the interview by describing a peaceful person as "Someone, as MLK said, who is other-centered, not self-centered." He also claims that "Mother Teresa told me (him) once not to worry about being successful, worry about being faithful."

Insightful answers courtesy of the wonderful, Colman McCarthy.

There needs to be Peace Studies classes all around the world, I'm telling you. It's interesting, informative, and life-changing material. All you need is a little openess and willingness to learn about something you haven't heard before and you'll enjoy yourself. I know I did and I was just a 17 year old adolescent.

Schools today thrive off a fear-based foundation. It's fear based learning and a form of academic violence that takes a toll . We're so concerned about getting good grades because we fear doing poorly in school. We don't learn about subjects that interest us. In college that changes a little bit but even universities should consider a Peace Studies department. It could have courses on any of the numerous forms of violence McCarthy mentions.

Like most things that appear different to us, peace instills fear in us. Certainly not all of us. But some. Just like some are still afraid of black people, afraid of gays, afraid of difference.

So what's something we can do every day do spread peace? Simple. The answer hasn't changed from my 2012 class. "Just tell someone, I love you." - Colman McCarthy.