Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Woman holding \"Save Our Future\" sign
Woman holding \"Save Our Future\" sign
Photo by Markus Spiske from Unsplash
CU Boulder | Culture

Good Things Still Happen

Frances Boyd Student Contributor, University of Colorado - Boulder
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at CU Boulder chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

The other day, after scrolling through the headlines of the New York Times, and then the Washington Post, and then the Guardian, I found myself sitting with an ever-mounting plethora of anxieties. The election, global warming, unprecedented wealth disparities, democratic backsliding, increasing polarization, lack of gun laws, and the gradual erosion of not just my rights but the rights of those around me, are just a few of them. It wasn’t until I started mentally preparing for mutually assured destruction in the event of a nuclear war that I stopped to think if this downward spiral of thoughts was in any way sensical or helpful. Maybe it’s my fault for having my New York Times notifications on — in which it seems like there is “breaking news” every 10 minutes — or following so many news accounts on Instagram, but the fear that our world is falling apart feels inescapable. While it is important to stay up to date on issues, so many at once all the time can feel increasingly paralyzing. I have come to wonder if I have stopped looking for the good news or if people have simply stopped reporting on it. 

newspaper background
Photo by Jon Tyson from Unsplash

One New York Times article changed my perspective on this question. Usually, positive change comes in the form of prevention — no one is going to report about the wars that didn’t happen, the family members who didn’t succumb to disease, or the babies who didn’t die in infancy. Therefore, in order to combat this onslaught of pessimism in our media, I have decided to look at the bigger picture and do some research into the “quiet successes” that have happened recently.  

The most impactful and enduring progress happens slowly, however, this makes it less noticeable. According to Our World in Data, a non-profit organization that works in tandem with researchers at the University of Oxford, our world has made immense strides in some of the most important fields such as poverty, health, and education. About 200 years ago, 80% of the world lived in extreme poverty and in 1950 over 50% did. As of 2019, however, less than 10% of the world classifies as extremely impoverished. The same goes for overall health. In the 1800s, around 43% of all newborns died before the age of five. Today, child mortality is down to just 4% of all children. None of these achievements would have been possible without the enormous improvements in education. Literacy rates today are seven times as high as they were less than 200 years ago and roughly 7.13 billion people have some basic form of education . Education is imperative for improving health, increasing political freedom, and ending poverty, therefore, seeing such exponential growth is both encouraging and promising for the future of our society.  

More recently, there have been a few “quiet successes” made in the environmental field that may have fallen below your radar. As of 2024, the European Union (EU) has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 37% when compared to 1990 levels with goals of a 55% reduction by 2030. Ireland has achieved their lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 30 years. Additionally, in both the EU and the US, wind and solar energy sources have outpaced the use of fossil fuels . But they are well behind these eight countries that use renewable energy for over 90% of their power: Albania, Bhutan, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Netherlands. 

mountains of montana
Photo by Kalen Emsley from Unsplash

While none of these achievements are going to solve climate change, it is still immensely important to acknowledge them. If we all go about our day only consuming news about things going wrong, it can become hard to find the motivation to act. However, if we read about the good things that are still happening around us, it can boost our optimism and inspire us to make change because we know it is possible. This is why it is important to look at the world from a broader perspective, not just our own lifetimes. If we are only looking at the past 50 years or so, it can be easy to falsely conclude that life will always be this bad and things will only get worse. But, when we compare where we are today to just 200 years ago, that perspective shows us that the world is not stagnant. Instead, we can realize that there are good things happening all around us, we are making positive change even if it does not feel that way.

Frances Boyd

CU Boulder '28

Frances Boyd is a contributing writer at the Her Campus Chapter at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a freshman expected to graduate in May 2028 double majoring in History and International Affairs. This is her first experience writing recreationally so she is still learning what she likes to write about.

Outside of school Frances enjoys hanging out with her friends, going on runs, shopping, reading, and attempting to ski. Growing up she was a serious ballet dancer, an experience that has shaped who she is as a person. She has not danced in almost two years but is hoping to get back to the studio at some point.

In the future Frances wants to work for human rights. She understands that is a very broad response, but she also is adamant that as a freshman she does not need to have all the details figured out yet. All she knows right now is that she wants to make a difference in peoples’ lives.