When you are living: going to college, working at the same time, when your job is your life, when you have kids that depend on you, it is easy to live in a bubble. We all live in bubbles of our own creation. I’m not referring to the bubble of a small community that keeps one wistfully ignorant or the bubble of complete self-interest, I am referring to the bubble the is created when we forget that the tragedies that we hear on tv or see on twitter are happening in real time; we forget that there is more knowledge out there that we haven’t had the opportunity to encounter.
Suzanne Barakat: Islamophobia killed my brother. Let’s end the hate
As college students we are in position to create change. We have resources now more than ever to understand our world and how it has been operating and why some things require change. We become so wrapped up in surviving our life we forget some of us have the privilege of standing up for other’s that can’t.
Eve Abrams: The human stories behind mass incarceration
I am guilty, even wanting to be a journalist, of forgetting a headline that tells about a war going on in another country, of a war going on in my own country. And I know that many of us, excluding of course those reading this, do not really like reading anymore. Which is fine, there are other ways today to access information. Podcast are one example. Another are TedTalks, which if you have seen are where the pervious links take you.
Sophie Andrews: The best way to help is often just to listen
Because I want to make it my career to hear about what is going on in the world, I seek it out myself, often times many don’t. TedTalks are on a variety of subjects:
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable
How I use art to bridge misunderstanding
Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care
TedTalks can be longer than 20 minutes but often aren’t. They are a way to expand your knowledge, take you out of your bubble, without need to pick up a book or read an article; you can listen to it instead.
Understanding those around you, the one’s close to you, the one’s in another country, helps us grow as individuals. Practicing our listening skill, our empathy, understanding our bias, are important to growing and a building a life for ourselves.
When you are sitting down for a quick break, sit down and watch a TedTalk, take a moment to learn about the world you live in.