I have never been enamored my superheroes. Batman and Superman never seemed very realistic to me. It all seemed so ridiculous -- do you really need a Batmobile or a red cape to save the world around you? I don’t think so.

I want to save the world. I lose a lot of sleep thinking about how badly I want to fix racism, homelessness, war. The most frustrating part of my small life has been that I can’t always seem to find the right words or the right actions or the right resources to fix the very issues that plague my mind. I often wrestle with whether or not the best way to save the world is serving as an elected official, picketing outside the offices of those already elected or writing strongly worded think pieces that might cause others to act. Sometimes all of these things sound appealing, sometimes none of them do.

But lately, saving the world seems more daunting. It is both encouraging and intimidating that there are so many people in my country and the world that have such well thought-out ideas about what would make us all better off. And I commend all of them. Having ideas about what change needs to take place is often the most important step in making a difference. But how can I save the world? How do I put what I’ve learned in university and in life to use?

I think saving the world starts with knowing you can. It is easy to wait for others to act. I know, from experience, that it is much harder to say the, often controversial, things that need to be said in order to begin making a difference. But when you start to verbalize the changes you are compelled to make, people will start shouting, “I agree!” from the rafters. It seems to be frequently the case that change takes so long because people are more inclined to wait for someone else to say something first. Despite social and political constructs that tell me otherwise, I know that my voice matters. I know that I am here to make a difference because I don’t think I’d lose so much sleep if I wasn’t.

In saving the world, you also must know that it matters. You can do it and it matters that you do. I feel compelled to assert that each minute matters. Each minute that you are not making a better life for yourself or someone else is a moment lost. I don’t mean that everyone should drop out of college and start leading radical movements. In fact, I mean quite the opposite. Whether you find yourself pursuing an education, a career or a family, it is important to take it seriously because it matters. You are not paying exorbitant amounts of money to sit in a lecture and not absorb what you’re hearing. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to broaden your knowledge of any and all things -- and often times the classes I thought mattered least turned out to be the ones that helped me learn the most. Put your whole self into every opportunity, because it matters.

I don’t really know how I will save the world. I don’t know if I’ll be remembered on the pages of history books or just in the minds of my loved ones. But I’d like to know that even if I can’t save the whole world, I have tried to save my small part. Even if my reach turns out to be small, it is meaningful. Most importantly, I hope that we are never complacent in anything, because you can’t save a complacent world, and you certainly can’t live in one.