The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Opinions

ZAID JILANI

This is my last column in The Red & Black because I'm graduating next Saturday.

It's been a long journey for me. Heck, my writing appeared here before I was ever a student - I wrote into the Mailbox the summer before I started attending the University and had my letter published.

From those pre-freshman days to the day I write this, I've had a crazy and wonderful experience at the University.

I started three campus organizations, including an independent magazine, Stand Up (www.standupuga.org), that is going stronger than ever. I managed to tick off former President Jimmy Carter by interrupting him on the way to the bathroom for a photo (he said my friend and I were "mighty slow with the camera"). I enraged talk radio host Neal Boortz - and received literally hundreds of pieces of hate mail - and got yelled at by the Serbian ambassador.

Speaking of hate mail - I loved the hate mail! Whether I was being told to "take a long walk off a short plank" or was being called some variety of terrorist, the hate mail made writing in this space worth it.

I can just imagine being one of those people who sends me hate mail. "Man, this guy's writing really makes me angry. It's just so - so un-American! I know what I'm going to do, I'm going to get on a computer and send him an incoherent message containing no less than three racial slurs. That'll show him!"

Like I said, I love my hate mail.

Actually, the most rewarding thing has been when someone comes up to me and introduces him or herself to tell me they like to read what I write. I don't even care whether they agree with me or not, I just want people to be engaged.

Things have become much better on that front since I started college. There are more student organizations than ever before, and I've never seen so many young people interested in making positive change.

I've learned a few things during my stay here. Above all else, be open-minded. Get out of your bubble and be willing to experience new things. And never, ever be afraid to lend a hand to someone in need - or to ask for one.

W.H. Auden once wrote, "we must love each other or die." The truth is, you die either way, but trust me, you'll live a lot better with the love.

If you'd like to, you can keep reading my writing post-graduation. I will continue to update the blog I write for, UGALiberal (www.ugaliberal.com). I also am on staff for BasedonBooks (www.basedonbooks.net), where I review movie adaptations of books.

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to end up in life, but I have a feeling I can give you a hint. If you pick up a newspaper and you see tragic events - wars, economic disasters or environmental catastrophe - you'll know I'm hard at work somewhere, trying to change the headlines.

As long as the sort of problems I've written about exist, I'll be out there tirelessly trying to fix them.

But, hey, look! It seems like summer's here - we only really get winter and summer in Georgia, spring and fall are for chumps and yankees.

It's so beautiful outside, and you shouldn't be reading a newspaper. Go enjoy your life. That's what I plan to do.

- Zaid Jilani is a senior from Kennesaw majoring in international affairs.

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