Elizabeth Houston  Houston is a
fourth-year political science student. She is currently the
president of the Undergraduate Student Association Council. E-mail
comments to [email protected]. Â Â
Welcome to the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the
most prestigious public universities in the nation. Welcome to
football games at the Rose Bowl, beating “˜SC, basketball at
Pauley, and finals week’s Midnight Yell (please no violence,
okay?). Welcome to Thursday night Greek parties, Hip Hop Xplosion
and Pilipino Culture Night.
Yes, there’s something for everyone including parking
nightmares, bookstore lines, dropping and adding classes, and
flyers in your face on Bruin Walk. But hey, it’s all part of
the college experience, good or bad.
Seriously though, whether you choose to attend a football game
or you lean more toward hip hop, the opportunities listed above
will not be the deciding factors that make or break your college
experience. Instead, those deciding factors, my fellow Bruins,
depend on you and the day-to-day choices that you make regarding
your education. After all, our education is the primary reason we
are here.
As college students, we possess a certain freedom that requires
us to make responsible decisions regarding our academics. We must
prioritize our time, develop good study habits and make excellent
use of the resources available to us. But you probably know this or
otherwise you wouldn’t be here.
JENNY YURSHANSKY/Daily Bruin Still, it is important for us to
understand that education transcends the four walls of the
classroom, encompassing not only academics, but morals, values and
social awareness as well. Essentially, good grades are incomplete
without good character, and good character should naturally lead to
social involvement. Even politicians, Republican or Democrat, are
emphasizing like never before the importance of morality and good
character.
What choices are you making that will build character and
integrity in your life?
Every day you have the opportunity to either choose the moral
high ground or to compromise your principles. We can see the result
of choosing integrity over compromise through the daily actions of
Mother Teresa. Her life proves that success is not merely measured
by knowledge or gain, but by one’s character and the choices
she or he makes.
Similarly, we as students must not measure the success of our
college experience solely on the quality of our academic
performance. We must also consider the character that we develop in
the educational process. My father once told me that it is not what
you are doing, but who you are becoming that really matters.
Without a doubt, it is our responsibility to make the right
decisions, regardless of surrounding influences. Friends,
classmates, roommates, girlfriends and boyfriends will all have
clear influences on your character and the choices you make.
Relationships are an important part of the college experience and
friends have the ability to bring out the best or the worst in
you.
It’s been said that bad company corrupts good character. I
choose friends who encourage integrity, not compromise.
Lastly, we must make responsible choices in how we choose to
perceive and relate to other groups. The many groups and student
organizations that constitute our UCLA community represent one of
our greatest strengths.
But some groups divide the campus along racial and cultural
lines. I challenge you to think twice before joining a group on
campus that preaches diversity without unity. Diversity is an
important element of our campus life, but if we cannot have
tolerance for other people, then we will have no unity.
Unity can seem like a vague, philosophical concept, but it is
really nothing more than recognizing our similarities and building
relationships based on them. Only when people fully recognize their
similarities can they begin to appreciate and value their
differences.
Even President Clinton, interviewed recently at an evangelical
leadership conference in Chicago, Illinois, quoted statistics that
stressed the fact that our similarities far outweigh our
differences.
Diversity alone will lead to misperceptions and racism. We must
be a generation that moves beyond the past.
We must recognize the wound that racism has left on our country
and work together toward reconciliation. We cannot fight racism. It
is a wound that must be healed. Yet reconciliation is a hard
solution to achieve; it requires that we lay down our bitterness
and forgive, reaching out to those who offend us the most. If we
are to combat racism on our campus, we must choose diversity with
unity.
One can truly see the diversity of our campus community in the
halls of Kerckhoff where our student government resides. Being
involved with the student government here at UCLA is exciting, and
quite controversial to say the least. Our student government, known
as the Undergraduate Students Association Council, is composed of
various committees, advisory boards and student groups.
Students involved with USAC are hardworking, passionate and
active on their campus and in their community. As we go through
many changes this upcoming year, I believe that we can build a
strong student government, fully representative of our campus
community and open to anyone who wants to make a difference. I
encourage you to get involved with USAC.
As a politically active, extremely loyal Bruin and patriotic
American, I am very passionate about making a difference in my
generation. I believe the choices I make will, in the end,
determine the person I will become and the impact I will have on
society.
So many of us are disillusioned because of leaders who have had
their lack of good character exposed. These leaders made bad
choices and their careers, relationships and credibility have
suffered as a result. It is so important that we make the right
decisions in every area of our lives.
So what then is the “right” decision?
A wise proverb says that if you look very hard for the truth,
you will find it. For those who are just arriving at this Bruin
world and those of us who will soon be alumni, this is a very
practical piece of advice.
Whether you are a freshman or a super senior, I welcome you to
UCLA and look forward to serving you during the year.
GO BRUINS!