Making Our Voices Heard Doesn’t Just Happen At the Polling Booths

We’ve been told for months that voting in the midterm elections is the most important thing that we can do as young college-age voters. We’ve been told that sharing our opinions is of the utmost importance. But it’s not just because the state of American politics is so turbulent. It’s not just because our country is so divided. Yes, those are some of the most prominent reasons why our votes matter, but it’s important on a more fundamental level: we really should just take every opportunity we can to make our voices heard.

Whether that’s voting in some of the most important elections of our time, or taking a Climate Survey sent out by our college, every time we’re given a chance to make our voices heard, we should take it. And we’ve been given that opportunity this semester.

Although the Marist Climate Survey is long and tedious, it should be taken by every student at Marist. Although many of us love our overall experience at Marist—and some do not—not a single one of us can truthfully say there isn’t at least one thing that we’d like to change. Whether it’s regarding activities on campus, diversity and inclusion, or classes, there’s always something to be said. And if you have something to say, you should say it.=

If you’re someone that encourages others to vote, or to stand up for themselves when they feel they’ve been wronged by someone else, you should do the same here. Take the survey and share your opinions, feelings and thoughts about life at Marist.

Sure it will take some time out of your day, but so do those surveys everyone sends out for their Com Research classes. If you added up the dozens of those that you take in a given semester, it would probably reach nearly double the amount that it takes to take the Marist Climate Survey. It really doesn’t take that long.

Sharing your opinion matters, and Marist is giving us an opportunity to do just that. The Climate Survey doesn’t happen every year, so it’s important to take advantage of it when it does. We all learned from election season that making a change only happens when people get out and vote, so we have to do the same here. I’m not saying that it’s near the same level of importance, but it’s the same principle.

If we want to see change at Marist, whether it’s small or monumental, we have to make it happen.