Is there anything that you feel passionately about to get up and say something and stop something happening that is just plain wrong? There are now TV shows putting people in awkward situations to see what they would do in situations of bullying, discrimination and more, but what are we as college students going to do in the real world when we are faced with shaping our generation by getting up and taking a stand.

I am a graduate of a high school class of 1,200, containing the most diverse group of people you could imagine. My high school was full of athletes, and nerds, and theater kids, and the people who wear tails, and a very large and strong LGBT community. If you haven’t done the math, my school had a total of about 4,500 impressionable high schoolers all trying to be themselves and decide not only on what college to go to and which major to pick, but also who they were. Now I’m not one to reminisce about high school, I absolutely could not wait to get out and go to college. But the reason I’m telling you all about it, is because recently a school board member went on the record saying that she did not want the new superintendent to be gay or lesbian. CAME OUT AND SAID THAT to a school where, I’m not exaggerating when I say, you could literally go into a classroom and meet at least two proudly gay or lesbian students, and those are classes of 25 in a school of 4,500.

Our town is in upheaval about this, it’s even currently being featured on Chicago news channels, but my best friend’s little brother, Charlie, has said it best. He didn’t just share the article and sign the petition being sent around the social media world. He spoke out to get his opinion heard and is making a big difference.

This woman on the board is saying that despite every qualification on a resume and every deserving aspect a person may have, they shouldn’t get the job because of their personal preference toward whom they spend their life with. Teachers are molding the minds of children, shaping the way they will see life and how they feel about themselves. For someone on the School Board of Education to say to her entire school that it’s not okay to be yourself and that if you don’t follow her specific opinions that you can’t get a good job, is absolutely ridiculous. Even if she personally does not like the LGTB community (which is still bigotry hand prejudice) she is now taking that a step further with public discrimination and being a huge baby about not getting her way. 

I don’t want anyone in our generation being taught that they cannot achieve the highest of their goals in life because they are being who they are. We are now college students preparing to go into the real world where we are going to be the ones molding young minds and making impressions on our communities and states and maybe our entire nation. I hope we can represent ourselves and the ideals we hold most dearly, to the highest regard and take a stand when we need to, like Charlie did.