I'm a student that came to college to develop ideas and move forward with life. Unfortunately, my progressive resolve doesn't hold true for all students in this educational community.
UB administrators are trying to build progress into the spirit of UB, at least for the next decade. Yet, the administration's idea of growth and expansion within UB 2020 has seemed unnecessary to me. Adding some 10,000 students is hardly a good goal. Why strive for growth in size when that inherently works against the growth of knowledge?
The plan that includes the expenditure of millions of dollars may or may not have the economically stimulating effect on Buffalo that planners are seeking.
Additionally, as some of my contemporaries have already pointed out, increasing the population in a strictly defined area will only worsen human effects on the environment.
However, when considering my personal progress, the last thing I want to do is stay where I am. Even if it means that I will fail along the way, I always want to be moving forward. I want to learn more. I want to meet new people. I want to go to the places that I dream of.
When I graduated from high school, I went to the school of my choice: Michigan State. It had the ivy, it had the sports, it had my program, and it was away from home. It was everything I hoped it would be. And yet it was terrible at the same time.
It turned out that I liked New York a heck of a lot more than the flatlands of Michigan. Home mattered more than the Spartans. I realize now that I had to take that chance and fail to truly appreciate my home.
Now that I'm at UB, I'm comfortable enough to set further goals for myself. I want to have an influence on my fellow students. I want to help this dying city. And once I feel that my duty here is done, I want to spread my influence onto the world.
Why have I set these goals for myself? Just like UB 2020, my goals seem to be "progress for the sake of progress." Idealism isn't reality, so why bother dreaming? Why can't we be content with staying where we are?
In my younger, more existential days, I used to succumb to those philosophical perturbations. We're all going to end up dead anyways - what's the point in making any effort at all? Shouldn't I be satisfied with what's been given to me?
There undoubtedly is a faction of students that have embraced their lives at the present; they would be in absolute bliss to continue drinking seven nights a week, and not going to classes they're paying for.
While that's a great feeling to fall back on in the event that you fail, you should never depend on it. We've been given a certain amount of time on earth and we need to use it to the fullest. If you see something you want, you need to seek it out.
Under that theme, why are my goals of progress valid while our university's are not? Is the idea of broader education a bad thing? Shouldn't UB strive to touch as many people as possible?
For too long have Buffalonians shrugged their shoulders.
"What are we going to do about this, or that?"
I'll tell you what we're not going to do - we're not going to sit on our butts waiting for somebody else to get it done.
Buffalo needs jobs? UB will provide the entrepreneurs. Buffalo needs nurses? UB will up its program. Buffalo needs to go green? UB will provide the environmentalists, the policy makers, and the engineers.
And if we as a community fail, then at least we tried.
The plan may be lofty and have some faults, but the potential for progress that UB 2020 provides should be embraced, because it's better than sitting still on the highway of life.
