We can all do better at dedicating more of our time to
serving others

When imagining the future, it is tempting to assume the worst. Some of us at times might even find it hard not to picture an abyss, swirling, ink-black, and empty. 

Students face personal unknowns: dread from college and careers, turmoil with family and friends and all the stresses permeating the halls of our school, thickly, but predictably. They are all staples of the ever-fleeting adolescence of teenage students. 

Further, though, there is a new, undeniable fear: It whispers that the political divide is too severe to save, that the troubling headlines we see from our phone screens and in our real lives is the inheritance of this 21st century. It speaks in a language that knows only violence, selfishness or sloth. It promises a legacy of taking, and nothing more. 

It wonders: Are there any truly good people left?

We think the answer is yes. 

And we think we don’t have to accept bleak prophecies. Leaning over an abyss with nothing but darkness to fill one’s vision. We think it’s worth looking up and past its eyes filled with light and with the hope humanity needs to survive. 

Good, hard working people exist most everywhere. Both sides of a divide give and inspire everyday, in ways both big and small. We implore you to look for these people, and let them be your focus and your influence. You can witness the benevolence of humanity, everyday if you simply look. And you can become part of the benevolence if you just try. 

We don’t claim that the world is perfect. We know it’s not. As journalists, we often must look straight into the underbelly of society, and try to be as unflinching and objective as possible. But we still continue and these stories in this issue are what we find. It’s easy to do nothing. To watch on and let that sense of impending doom take you over. But the best things in life take effort, and this mindset is one of them.  

We implore you to appreciate those around you who do good, and follow the lead of those featured in this issue 

If you are spending more than 9 hours on your phone, like many members of our generation, you have free time to help others. You have free-time to take care of yourself. Do the things you love, help others do what they love, and you will see change. 

A bleak destiny is not written in stone. Life may be unfair and bad things may happen and despair may bubble up inside- but the only way to improve is to push through. Whatever your purpose may be, make it something that makes you, and those around truly and undeniably happy.

Exchange your spotty ink for bright, undeniable color. Fill your void with things you love. And, above all, fight the abyss and serve others.