G

rowing up, I was one of 
those weird kids from 
a weird family. In an 

attempt to shelter 
my siblings and 
me, my parents 
refused to have 
internet or cable 
television in the 
house. For a time, 
we had a hunky 
desktop 
plugged 

into the ethernet 
cable where we 
could 
spend 
20 

minutes 
a 
day 

playing games on Miniclip 
or Disney.com. But when our 
time ran up, we had nothing 
to connect us to the outside 
world. As a homeschooled kid 
in the backwoods of the Upper 
Peninsula, I really didn’t have 
the option of hanging out with 
the local kids, especially since 
the nearest neighbor under 
the age of 60 was about five 
miles away. So that had me 
turning to my own world: my 
world of books.

Without the distractions of 

the rest of the world, I spent 
every free moment engrossed 
in “Robinson Crusoe”, “The 
History of The World” and 
even 
Isaac 
Asimov’s 
“The 

Intelligent Man’s Guide to 
Science”, 
along 
with 
any 

other book I could get my 
hands on. I would read in the 
hayloft in order to hide from 
my siblings. I would read by 
flashlight when everyone else 
was sleeping. I would even 
lock myself in the bathroom 
in order to finish another 
chapter. I was addicted to 
reading and it was the best 
thing that could have ever 
happened to me.

As I got older, I continued 

my reading frenzy, and when 
I joined the public-school 
system in high school, I was 
the class nerd. Not in a bad 
way either — it was easy to 
integrate 
when 
everyone 

wanted to sit next to you, 
even if it was for all the wrong 
reasons. I was top of the class 

and it was all thanks to the 
vast amounts of reading I had 
done. My books had taught 

me everything from 
astronomy to world 
history 
to 
global 

economics.

I 
continued 
to 

read throughout high 
school, 
striving 
to 

finish two or three 
books every month. 
It 
helped 
me 
to 

improve my writing 
as well and taught 
me to read critically. 

I felt much more comfortable 
writing academic papers and 
my college application essays. 
I can say I wouldn’t be at such 
a prestigious university if it 
weren’t for the skills I had 
gained while locked away in 
the bathroom.

It was a habit I let go when I 

first began my college career, 
because of my busy schedule 
and all the excitement that goes 
along with being a freshman in 
college. As a result, I suffered 
the worst grades I had ever 

earned. Ever. As a kid who 
was grounded more than once 
for bringing back a progress 
report that proclaimed an A-, I 
was appalled at myself (to this 
day, my own mother hasn’t a 
clue, heaven have mercy).

When 
my 
second 
year 

rolled around, I told myself I 
would pick up reading again, 

in an attempt to distance 
myself from the distractions 
of 
technology 
and 
social 

media. The results? I received 
exponentially better grades, a 
feeling of better self-esteem 
and, surprisingly, more time 
on my hands. I was amazed at 
what a difference it made for 
me and rather disappointed 
in myself for having lost 
that. I hadn’t realized what a 
profound impact such a simple 
habit had on my life.

According 
to 
a 
study 

conducted 
at 
Stanford 

University, “reading is the 
workout the brain needs in 
order to stay in its optimal 
health.” It serves to improve 
vocabulary, 
analytical 
and 

communicative skills, as well 
as 
enhance 
your 
memory 

and 
ability 
to 
focus 
and 

concentrate. It can even help 
to reduce stress and, according 
to 
Anne 
E. 
Cunningham’s 

paper “What Reading Does for 
the Mind” it serves to keep you 
sharp as you age. If you don’t 
believe me, listen to Lisa Bu’s 
TED Talk, “How Books Can 
Open Your Mind.”

In today’s world, books are 

more accessible than they 
have ever been before. More 
accessible 
than 
they 
have 

been throughout history. With 
e-books, public libraries and 
school campuses, it is nearly 
impossible to find yourself 
without access to a book. 
There is even a “take-a-book-
leave-a-book” library next to 
Washtenaw Dairy, and many 
others like it all over the 
country. You don’t even need a 
library card! So what are you 
waiting for? Join the likes of 
self-proclaimed avid readers 
Steve Jobs and Phil Knight 
(among a multitude of others), 
get down to your local library 
and set those brain cells to the 
grindstone — the results might 
just surprise you.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Monday, January 29, 2018

DAYTON HARE

Managing Editor

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

ALEXA ST. JOHN

Editor in Chief
 ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND 

ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Lucas Dean can be reached 

lbdean@umich.edu.

Megan Burns

Samantha Goldstein

Emily Huhman
Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan

 
 
 
 

Lucas Maiman
Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Ali Safawi

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

Kevin Sweitzer

Rebecca Tarnopol

 Ashley Zhang

I 

grew up in a household 
that I always considered 
to be absolutely middle 

class. Food was always on 
the table, but the idea of 
buying a Canada Goose jacket 
or going to college out of 
state 
was 
never 
seriously 

entertained. And this was 
fine, because where I grew 
up, in a small rural town in 
Northern Michigan, no one 
could afford anything from 
the Canada Goose brand, and 
almost everyone was working 
hard during the summer to 
afford a community college 
education. So I never really 
felt like I was poor until I 
came to Ann Arbor.

To be clear, I wouldn’t 

consider myself poor. I am 
perhaps on the lower end of 
the socioeconomic scale for 
a student at the University 
of Michigan, but I have been 
given a lot of privileges that 
many of my peers haven’t 
been 
afforded. 
My 
dad’s 

life insurance coupled with 
my 
family’s 
money-saving 

savviness 
and 
a 
helpful 

scholarship 
has 
ensured 

that I will graduate from the 
University debt-free. I live 
with the knowledge that if 
my dad hadn’t passed away, 
I might not have been able 
to afford to go here, which 
is 
something 
bizarre 
and 

somewhat 
disturbing 
that 

I’ve had to cope with. But 
during my time in Ann Arbor, 
I’ve never gone hungry and 
I’ve never worried about not 
having enough money to pay 
my rent — circumstances 
which I’m sure many of my 
peers have unfortunately faced.

Still, I think I speak for 

many lower-income students 
when I say the University of 
Michigan sometimes doesn’t 
feel like a real place. When 
I was in high school, it was 
common for me to hear that 
a friend didn’t have enough 
money for gas, or that they 
couldn’t afford the school 
lunches. Here, it’s common 
for me to hear peers complain 

about 
how 
their 
parents 

are upset at them for eating 
out too often at expensive 
restaurants. I’m not here to 
pass judgment — if my family 
made enough money, you bet 
I would eat lunch every day at 
Tomukun and complain about 
my mom getting on my case 
about it. I’m just saying that 
when you hear your peers 
complaining 
about 
things 

that aren’t an option for you, 
you begin to feel like you live 
in a city where real-world 
issues don’t really exist.

So 
when 
I 
found 
out 

Central Student Government 
had 
created 
a 
“Campus 

Affordability 
Guide” 
and 

that 
many 
students 
were 

complaining that this guide 
was out of touch, I was 
really not surprised. And 
honestly, at this point, I 
don’t have the energy to be 
angry 
about 
these 
things 

anymore. I’m graduating in 
a few months knowing that 
taking an unpaid gap year 
or traveling the world isn’t 
really an option, or that even 
grad school isn’t a possible 
opportunity until I find a job. 
I’m tired, scared and ready to 
get out of this expensive city.

So what I’m really trying 

to say is I’ve accepted that 
the University has a pretty 
upscale campus, ranked as 
having one of the wealthiest 
student bodies of any public 
university 
in 
the 
United 

States, and I realize it will 

take major social upheaval 
and institutional change in 
order to change this fact. All 
I ask is that the wealthier 
members of the student body 
recognize 
this, 
and 
stop 

assuming that everyone is 
of the same socioeconomic 
background. I’m asking that 
students stop being surprised 
when they find out some of 
their peers are unable to 
join 
student 
organizations 

because 
of 
their 
work 

schedule, or not everyone has 
the connections necessary to 
get a job or internship at a 
major institution. I’m asking 
that we recognize that the 
University is an incredibly 
privileged campus and that 
the lives many of us live are 
unimaginable to a decent 
portion of the country.

 I, along with many other 

students, am tired of having 
to explain why we can’t live up 
to the expectations of those 
among us who have never 
had to worry about money. 
We’re tired of explaining 
why we can’t just give up 
things we’ve never been able 
to afford in order to save 
on cash. We’re tired of our 
explanations as to why our 
lives are inherently different 
from our wealthier peers 
being met with condescension 
and the general feeling that 
our thoughts are unwelcome. 
And once a major portion of 
our campus realizes they are 
in fact a lot wealthier than 
those classified as having a 
low 
socioeconomic 
status, 

then we won’t have to explain 
ourselves anymore. And at 
that point, we can actually 
start 
addressing 
the 
real 

issues and barriers poorer 
students face. Because to 
be clear, wealthy students 
aren’t the problem, but a 
lack of understanding and 
representation is.

A response to CSG’s affordability guide

ELENA HUBBELL | OP-ED

JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD

Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at 
our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss 

national, state and campus affairs.

Elena Hubbell is an LSA Senior and 

Senior Opinion Editor

W

alking into the Diag 
on 
an 
unusually 

warm 
and 
sunny 

Saturday morning, I melted into 
a crowd filled with 
hundreds of women, 
men and children all 
attending this year’s 
women’s 
march. 

Signs 
filled 
the 

crowd with mantras 
like “it’s not criminal 
to be an individual” 
and “the power of 
the people is stronger 
than the people in 
power.” There were 
women dressed in costumes 
from 
Margaret 
Atwood’s 

infamous book and the new 
show 
“The 
Handmaid’s 

Tale” with their red bonnets 
striking against the blue sky. 
Standing with these fellow 
protesters in solidarity was a 
powerful force. Each person 
came from a different walk of 
life, with different views on 
justice. But all were united in 
forceful solidarity.

It is easy to feel powerless 

in today’s world. I often find 
myself turning off the news, 
overwhelmed and ashamed of 
the government we have today. 
As I hastily close out of my 
news browser, it is easy to want 
to complain with degradation, 
to ask how we, our country, 
its citizens — even the world 
— got to this point. Yes, to 
retreat is easy, especially 
when you see no place for 
strength and redemption.

I did not attend a women’s 

march last year. Though I am 
passionate 
about 
speaking 

out against the continuous 
existence 
of 
workplace 

harassment 
and 
sexual 

assault, I never fully understood 
the power of a march. Like 
many 
others, 
I 
read 
the 

newspaper and consider myself a 

politically-conscious 
individual, able to 
defend my beliefs 
and 
support 
my 

reasoning. However, 
immersion 
within 

the 
Ann 
Arbor 

Women’s 
March 

showed 
me 
the 

power and change 
that participating in 
a tangible movement 
brings.

Every individual marches 

for his or her own reasons. 
But 
recognizing 
why 
you 

may, or may not, march is 
what 
demonstrates 
where 

your true beliefs lay. Political 
activism is not a straight path. 
Each individual brings his or 
her beliefs, convictions and 
capabilities to a movement. 
One may grow into political 
activism, or jump into it 
headfirst. Recognizing what 
issue you truly care about and 
committing to fight for it is 
how an individual turns into 
an activist.

To quote Nobel Laureate 

Elie Wiesel, “Do not stand idly 
by if you witness injustice. 
You must intervene. You must 
interfere.” Choosing to stay 
quiet — whatever issue, side 
or cause it may be — only 
lets the status quo persist. 
The only way to make change 
from where we are today is to 
get up, find your calling and 
take action.

One considerable way to 

ensure you do not remain 
quiet is to remember the 
activists of the past and the 

present 
who 
found 
their 

passions. Susan B. Anthony 
never lost sight of winning 
women the right to vote, 
and endless figures, from all 
different social movements, 
followed her visions. Discover 
what you want to change and 
never lose sight of this goal.

Attending 
Ann 
Arbor’s 

Women’s March empowered 
me to commit to the change 
I want to see in our nation. 
But it is important not to let 
this motivation slip as social 
problems continue to arise. 
In a New York Times article, 
march 
participant 
Nadya 

Agrawal explained that she 
hopes the people marching 
across the nation today will 
not forget about the Deferred 
Action for Childhood Arrivals 
or Black Lives Matter protests 
that occur subsequently.

But I want to challenge 

myself, my peers, friends 
and mentors to take a stand. 
The passage of every moment 
lends itself to history. It is up 
to us, whether it be on this 
campus, in your hometown or 
in the government. Activism 
is what this country and its 
citizens need.

I challenge you not to take 

the easy route. We can all 
be activists. But you must 
set your mind to the cause 
that empowers you to make 
change. March. Call your 
senator. 
Volunteer. 
Keep 

marching, until you are part 
of the change that you wanted 
to see happen.

Julia Cohn can be reached at 

julcohn@umich.edu.

The making of an activist

JULIA COHN | COLUMN

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Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 
to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to 

tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

Pick up a book

LUCAS DEAN | COLUMN

LUCAS 
DEAN

As a kid who was 
grounded more 
than once for 
bringing back a 
progress report 
that proclaimed 

an A-, I was 

appalled at myself.

NATALIE BROWN | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT NGBROWN@UMICH.EDU

JULIA 
COHN

We’re tired of 
explaining why 
we can’t just give 
up things we’ve 
never been able to 

afford.

