Olga Steblyk / Lead Photographer

The mark of bravery is not to have no fear, but it is to act in the face of fear. The mark of wisdom is not to be profound with your words, but instead with your actions. To be greater, you don’t need fancy titles, a cool job, expensive clothes, fast cars or even a big place to live. All you need is a desire for more, a desire to grow past barriers, a desire to be the best version of yourself not because you owe it to yourself, but because you owe it to everyone who would kill to be in your position. 

You have the capacity to be greater. Everyone does. You have the ability to lead by example, extend the benefit of the doubt to those you don’t know, to live with love in your heart even when it is easy to hate. You have the ability to inspire those around you to live with compassion, to fight for a future where justice and fairness is the reality we all share. 

The idea of a world that champions truth, justice and a better tomorrow might seem like a dream. Maybe it is. But dreams are what keep us alive. Dreams are what inspire us. Dreams are what gives hope to tomorrow, that we can do better than what we have. Dreams help us to be more than the sum of our parts. Dreams help us be greater. 

But why should you? It’s easy to say that you should do something but not why. Well, let’s try to think about this a different way. If you were to spend every day of your life only ever putting in half-efforts in all you do, then chances are you’ll be left with lots of regrets when you get to the end of your life. Even if you don’t succeed in trying to reach your dreams, trying your best, trying to be greater, will at the very least give you the comfort of knowing that you tried your best.  

Furthermore, there are countless amounts of people worldwide that would kill to be in your position, in university, in Canada, in a place where they would have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. You do live in a place like this. You can actually pursue your dreams. To waste such an opportunity would be to spit in the faces of all those who don’t share in our privilege of a university education.  

So, I implore you to use this opportunity you have wisely. Don’t use it to be vain, don’t chase roles and titles that mean nothing. Build something that others will use, use your connections to advance community interests. Be a hero and be the one to start the conversation about issues that matter the most. Gather signatures for important issues, take these issues to the people who are in charge, demand that they act. Lead on issues no one else is talking about. Dare to be greater, you just might be the one to spark a deluge of change. 

Dare to be greater. Dare to hope. Dare to dream. Dreams are what we build the future with. Hope is what helps us dream of a brighter future. Being greater helps us fight the good fight to help those in need. It allows us to be the architects of our own future, to reject the dark futures of a hateful world. It helps us be not just the people we are, but the people we were always meant to become. 

All it will take to build a better world for all is for you to wake up one day and decide to be greater. What’s stopping you? 

This article was originally published in print Volume 23, Issue 8 on Thursday, April 4.