Nothing like a good ol’ election to bring us back to the playground. When I was in fifth grade, one of my best friends was this kid named Timothy. Timothy was a huge Buffalo Bills fan, had the fashionable bowl cut of the day and liked playing basketball.  But he thought that he had a problem — Timothy was short. Our group of friends thought nothing of it; we included Timothy in all of our games and never poked fun at him. Timothy, on the other hand, took offense to the fact that he was shorter than everyone else.  Every time he would get in a fight with someone else, he would automatically bring up his height disadvantage as the reason that person had a disagreement with him.  When that person would deny the allegation, Timothy would proceed to yell and run at the other person, fists swinging. Timothy wasn’t a bad guy, he just felt like he had something to prove to everyone else. He out-yelled and out-fought everyone in self-defense, even if the dispute wasn’t personal.

My other best friend was named Anthony. Anthony always wore his hat backward, loved to skateboard and was friendly to everyone he met. But Anthony had a flaw that was quite apparent — he liked feeling better than other people. Whenever the teacher would make a mistake, he would be the first to point it out, causing the class to burst out in laughter. He would also make fun of other students when the opportunity presented itself, which was often funny in the opinion of most, but also left the targeted person feeling bad. Anthony felt that he was superior to everyone else; after all, his friends were immature kids, and he seemed like the only one who realized it! As you can guess, Timothy and Anthony never got along that well. Whenever they had a disagreement, Timothy would immediately take personal offense regardless of what happened and would then accuse Anthony of having the worst intentions for his “vile” actions. In response, Anthony would act cool to Timothy’s face, but then absolutely rip into him once his back was turned, talking about how immature, stupid and annoying Timothy was.

Both boys had good hearts. Neither knew how to truly listen.

Here we are, with a new president and a college divided. Many liberals I run into are easily offended and hyper defensive. Many conservatives I run into are smug and somewhat apathetic to the concerns of others. These are often the faces and voices you are met with at Calvin when social and political topics come up.

Calvin has made strides in recent years towards creating and supporting candid dialogue for various issues. UnLearn Week has perhaps been the most direct approach, while open discussions have manifested themselves in student org sponsored events and spontaneous classroom talks. The last six months have proven that there is room for discussion surrounding various issues, and students have taken it upon themselves to foster dialogue.

That is, if fostering dialogue begins with stating an opinion and ends with muting any dissenters. The student body is comprised of 18–22-year-olds, so reason and understanding often give way to emotion and discord. That isn’t to say that Calvin and its students are incapable of holding a rational and productive discussions; only that this often is not the case. Shutting oneself off from differing opinions allows an irrational mode of thought to drive speech and actions.

It’s easy to become impassioned by the latest issue-making headlines, but it’s harder for those passions to turn into real change. Calvin, which once had a campus with many working class families, is now mainly comprised of students and families who fail to realize just how small the world around them is.

I don’t want people to ignore the actions of their country, and there are many who have responded with action to things throughout the last half-year wonderfully. Calvin has often inflated their students’ sense of responsibility, causing them to believe that they should be Christ’s agents of renewal for the entire world. While this may be inherently true, the realization of this call by immature minds leads to an inflation of the ego that often results in an out-of-focus worldview, when in reality the biggest impact a student can make here and now is in their own community.

This all gets lost because we can’t even have conversations. I wish all of us Calvin students could take a second and realize that maybe we’re wrong, or what we stand for is right but we’re representing it in a poor way, or that we may be right but open dialogue doesn’t mean allowing one side to be heard while muting another. We need to truly start using our own discernment as well, and not piggy-back off of the rhetoric of another without trying to get the full view of a subject.

Considering the historically Dutch influence on our school, Calvin has come very far in creating a community which is open to diversity. However, diversity is more than just a student body made up of 14.7 percent racial minorities. True diversity includes diversity in thought, politics, economic status, skills, interests and culture. But diversity is only worth something if we can humble ourselves, walk across the aisle and dare to truly listen to someone that is different than us.