Every day, a new headline pops up on our newsfeed bringing bad news.

“Healthcare Not Possible For All!”

“Rohingya Muslims Not Able To Return Home!”

“International Aid Decreased!”

For a college student, attempting to do anything may seem hopeless. Who’s going to listen to you? Are you going to schedule a meeting in Washington before your 2pm French class?

But it isn’t hopeless because there are a variety of things you (yes, you, overwhelmed college student preoccupied with finals!) can do to help the world. One of those things is writing letters to your representatives about the issues that matter most to you.

Seem too simple? It’s not! Most colleges have clubs and groups on campus to address the needs that students care about, such as campus versions of Amnesty International and UNICEF. If you cannot join these clubs because of the time commitment, then consider going to one of their events in the year!

However, if there is no way to advocate in a group, then you can always do so by yourself. Online websites have made it easy to find out who represents you in the government, both in your college city and hometown. You should be able to find the email addresses, phone numbers, and office addresses of everyone you need to contact.

From there, all it takes is a little passion and writing. Appeal to your representatives, give a personal anecdote, throw some facts at them! You’d be surprised how much help a letter can lend to a cause.

There’s a sentiment floating around that one person cannot achieve all they would like on their own, so why try? But it’s only when you don’t try that nothing gets done. I know, it sounds clichéd, but it’s true. If you and every one of your friends spent Monday nights writing two letters to representatives around the country, you may start to see a change in the headlines.

It can only happen when you try, though.

Personally, I never thought about advocacy in this sense until I got an internship my spring semester of freshman year with a grassroots organization. As part of my internship, I wrote about issues in the world and had to hassle my representatives.

I say hassle because that’s how it felt at first, calling them every week, emailing them every day, writing letters every now and then.

Eventually, though, it felt less like work and more like a calling, something I was responsible for simply because I had the means to do it.

As busy as you feel with your studies and your jobs, there are busier people who need the help that our government isn’t giving them. These people don’t get to write letters because they have bigger things to think about.

You, on the other hand, do have the time, no matter how many times you insist you don’t.

So instead of making excuses about why you don’t have ten minutes to sit down and write a letter, just do it. Every Monday night, while you’re taking a break from studying, write a letter. In class, when the professor is late as usual, write a letter. During movie nights with your friends, write letters.

Will it work? Will you achieve what you set out to achieve? Will anything change? Can you make a difference?

Maybe. But isn’t that maybe worth it?