In the world we live in, technology and social media are everything. They're honestly what make the world go 'round. Because of this, ideas spread quickly and are absorbed haphazardly, and people are just as quick to create their own opinions about these ideas. These ideas can be something as meaningless as a meme or something as serious as political, social, or religious beliefs.

I believe everyone has a right to his/her own opinions.

Last year, during my freshmen year of college, there were a group of boys who affiliated with a different side of the political spectrum than me. Even my boyfriend and people in my friend groups have different opinions, despite the fact that we are petty close on the spectrum. After many conversations with them, I learned that many people usually will not budge when it comes to changing their opinions. While I wish people, including myself, could just drop their pride and be more understanding, it's just not realistic.

I've realized that when I debate with people about differing views, they are more likely to actually listen when I avoid getting heated about the topic. I fully believe mutual respect is needed when sharing opinions.

Learning to "agree to disagree," instead of resulting to yelling and insulting others, even if its just in your mind, is something we all need to work on.

On the other hand, there are hateful people in the world and, unfortunately, they aren't going anywhere. People who are racist, sexist, homophobic, rude, and intolerable are always going to be around. I don't expect these people to just "stop" being and thinking a certain way, nor am I defending them. But, again, people are seldom to change their mind about a topic when they already have an opinion on it. But, I do hope that these hateful people do not receive hate back.

Hate and anger only spread faster when people try to fight fire with fire. In other words, don't stoop down to someone else's level just because they are being hateful on social media, in person, or behind their cellphones.

There is a difference between standing up for what you believe in and insulting or hurting others because they don't agree with you. Don't get me wrong, I understand why people are angry. They're angry at the president or the headline that reads something about a hate crime or a terrorist attack. There are many reasons to be mad at the world at the moment, and when people are upset, they want something or someone to blame. I get it.

But, the reason why I'm so sick and tired of the hate in this world is because we all seem to forget the things that make us all the same: we are all people just trying to live happily. No matter what our skin color is, how much money we have, what religion we practice, or what political party we associate ourselves with, we are all the same.

Let's start acting like it.