They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I find it profound that these small rectangular views of moments, which are already over before the camera’s shutter closes, are worth so much.
It is then not surprising that no one has been able to quantify the number of words needed to describe a day, a year or four years. The words then needed to describe someone’s collegiate experience would most certainly require far more words than are in this newspaper. Yet, these senior columns are limited only to 700 words.
When The Crimson White approached me to write this column, I felt honored. There was so much I felt I could say about my four years at Alabama. This could be my last way to create positive change on campus. I wrote many initial drafts.
However, none of them I thought truly sparked any type of flame in the many that could cause a large movement to change the status quo, leaving behind the worst of our past and embracing a more inclusive future. It took countless columns for me to realize that somewhere during my time here, I had lost my perspective.
Over the past four years, campus has changed. It was only eight years ago that countless greek students were asked to turn over their social security numbers and CWIDs to their Machine representatives so that others could vote in their place in SGA elections.
It might have been because there was no opposition, but this year’s machine representatives were inactive during this election cycle. Those who did receive reminder emails to vote for the “right candidates” found emails that lacked the same level of coercion and intimidation of the past. As campus becomes more diverse and the number of out of state students increases, the structural roadblocks, like the Machine, will continue to break down and become stories of the past.
Working toward a goal but understanding you are only a small part of a larger, longer process is one of the hardest things to accept. I often think about how hard it must be for the founders of fraternities, student organizations and other campus organizations.
For them, they are building and working towards something whose end goal is not something they will see. So many times, I wanted to wake up and pick up this very newspaper and find the Machine dissolved or an integrated greek system. However, I know that my actions were a straw on a camel’s back that will eventually break.
College has taught me that life moves fast; we only have a short time here. I still remember moving into my freshman dorm. Like yesterday, I remember waiting for my parents to leave so this next phase of my life could start. It felt like it would last forever. But here I am, looking back on my four years, asking how all of the various moments that made up my last four years added up to the present. Unfortunately, I have the feeling life is not dissimilar.
Moments are infinitesimal instances of time that coalesce into memories you did not know you were making. Life is a compilation of countless moments, pictures that together make up the photo album of your life.
I was asked to write a column with a message for those who still have more moments to live at the Capstone. If there is any message, it is make each moment, each photo something you want to see. Don’t be afraid to create the album that defines you. I pity the person who graduates with little or no pictures to look back on.
Ryan Flamerich served as the speaker of the SGA Student Senate. He is a 2012 Harry S. Truman Scholar.
