The Michigan Daily-New Student Edition-Perspective-Thursday, September 9, 1993 - Page 9 CHOICES Continued from Page 1 And that does not mean merely finding a clique, finding more people like you. "Diversity" is a word that was ritually drilled into you at Orientation, but it means something. It lingers, buzzes in your head when you find someone with an experience so new, so different, so enlightening that your whole perception shifts, tilts and-beautifully -expands. There'sawoman whojustgraduatedfrom t4eUniversity. She has big, sweeping plans. And they're not about fame or wealth. She came to Ann Arbor four years ago with no particular drive, no burning idea - probably like many of you. But her sophomore year changed all that. She registered into Project Community and Project Outreach with vague ideas of erasing the thick weight of sheer academia from her college experience. What she found was that she could help. Meeting women who survived abusive spouses, talking with homeless citizens - through these experiences, she felt her vision of the future coming together slowly, the tangles of her previous confusion unfurling at her feet. She volun- teered more time, joined other groups, worked on cam- paigns. Now she leaves Ann Arbor with more than a diploma in her eager hand. Joining the domestic Peace Corps, Volun- teers in Service to America (VISTA), she has a chance to test both her ideals and her experience-sharpened skills. She, like some '90s pioneer, is moving West to work on a newly- created drug and alcohol abuse program. And she knows that this is all happening because she made a quick, bold choice and joined a campus group about which she scarcely knew. These stories fall together into a pattern. A seemingly random, casual choice opensup a deep well of possibilities from which you can draw, again and again, throughout your life. But your participation-in a student group does not have to result in agrand mission, either. Camaraderie, companion- ship, recreation, peer discussions - these are all valid and valuable things to derive from your involvement. There's a Rollerblade Club, the yearbook, film cooperatives, theater groups, a sailing team. If you have an interest, burning or casual, there most likely exists a group to suit your needs. If one doesn't, start your own. The thing to remember here is to take that initial risk. Go to that first meeting in some dank room in the MLB. Ignore the sizing-up stares the members give you as you walk in. Swallow hard that firm pressure of awkwardness and fear that rises in your chest. Take a seat and listen. And don't be afraid to speak, to offer up your outsider's opinion. The toughest battle, the fight to leave the dorm room, to leave the safe confines of what you've quickly made familiar, has already been won. You're there. Make the moment your own. And don't be afraid of the political. Ann Arbor has a reputation for being the nesting ground for radicals, but politics flourish on the ideaof a continuum, so whatever your political background, an experience with an involved student group can only challenge and enrich your particular brand of ideology. The ancient idea of the noble cause still brings people together, especially at your crucial age. The slick and cold PR on this generation is that all you care about are talk shows and videos, grunge and the remote control. They say your level of social involvementextends tobuying Ben and Jerry's Rainforest Crunch or occasionally using a condom. Prove these cynics, these Baby Boomer pseudo-philosophers wrong. Join Recycle U-M. Join Amnesty Intemational. Join the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Whatever your slant or leaning, any involvement serves to make you more alive, serves to make you a more valuable human being. Talking about poverty or abortion or racism with the folks on yourhall is one thing, but joining Habitat for Humanity means you'll build houses to bring homeless people in off the streets. That's ideology in action. It comes down to what you want to make of your years at the University. All graduates will remember the nights out with friends or lovers. All graduates will recall the paper that almost did them in. But some will also have another rich resource on which to draw not only memories, but a lasting influence. Some will look back on the political rally that changed their vote. Some will turn to their hard work organizing the Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities, and its significance on their lives, and the lives of others. Some will look right next to them and see the friends they made in the Undergraduate Psychology Society, or the Women's Rugby team or Hillel- and they will know that these close friends came into their lives solely by chance, and had they not taken that initial leap and joined that group, they would never have, met these people who have had such an impact on their lives. It's about a choice, a small risk, a willingness to take a chance. And the rewards can last a lifetime. Tom Hayden took that first step and became the mouthpiece of a genera- tion. Yourexperience need notbe so dramatic. Butyou are the artist of your own life. You must choose the textures, the shades, the soft intensity you want to give it. The chances you take now could transform it forever, into something remark- able, burning brightly. I Q~cY QZ QZY9 1K9 EARTH PAC. E REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE Presenting businesses committed to the future U