Anyone who has read my most recent columns has become more familiar with the problems that exist on this campus. But while we sit here and debate the detriment of inflated housing prices or being forced to purchase a meal plan, these small issues are trivial compared to the problems that many families face every day during these hard economic times.

To them, having a place to call home is a tremendous blessing that, at the moment, many Americans cannot say they have. It is after watching documentaries on the effects of the recession and world poverty that I can now say that we should certainly be thankful for what we have.

On Sunday, the CBS show “60 Minutes” showed the forgotten people of this recession: the children. When the housing bubble burst and factories began to close at an accelerated rate in 2008, many families who were living the American Dream suddenly began to live a nightmare, as they lost their homes due to a lack of income to pay the mortgage. As a result, many children who went to upscale and middle-class schools, were in extracurricular activities, and lived in middle-class neighborhoods now find themselves living in hotel rooms, hungry and destitute.

This is demonstrated in Seminole County, Fla., where “60 Minutes” reported that as many as 1,000 students recently lost their homes, and that number was increasing by at least five each day.

Watching the video truly provides a humbling moment for those of us who traditionally opine on the problems that affect only college students. But even in that respect, colleges have been affected as well, as endowments declined and students began looking for more affordable choices because their parents were let go by their employers. I recall a close friend who was forced to withdraw temporarily after her father was laid off.

Even if no one in our own families has lost their jobs, we all know someone who is going through a hard time as they wonder if they will be able to afford next semester’s tuition bill.

But while it may seem that I have painted this as the worst of times, it can also be the best of times as well. The last time that America was going through such a trial by fire, it was around 1934, when about 22 percent of America found themselves unemployed or underemployed.

It was in the Great Depression that we found ourselves coming together as Americans and focusing on getting each other back on their feet. If a person did not have money to buy food, a neighbor helped out with a bag of groceries. If someone didn’t have a car, someone was always there to give them a ride wherever they needed to go.

This is the spirit that we need to instill back in America: a spirit that says I am here for you if needed, that reassures us that these troubling times too shall pass, that we will be all right in the end, and that our best days are still ahead of us. That spirit is truly the American spirit.

We tend to forget about all the things that we can be thankful for, and sometimes we need jolts like this to help us reflect on these things. But let’s also remember where we are coming from as well, and know that there is no challenge that Americans, when standing together, cannot solve.

After all, we were birthed out of a conflict that we never should have won. After all, we put man on the moon less than a decade from man’s first spaceflight. After all, we have fought a war on poverty before, and I believe that we can beat it again.

At the beginning of this year, I mentioned that we needed to resolve ourselves to giving to the community around us to make a difference in the lives of people that we may not see everyday, but nonetheless are people that still have intrinsic worth. I believe that this should be seen as a reaffirmation of that battle cry, and it can start here on this campus.

Find an organization that helps children succeed in school, provides food to the homeless or gives comfort to the elderly. I understand that all of us are busy, but at times, I believe that we make ourselves busy so we have an excuse to ignore these groups.

If we can all make just a little time to help each other, we will go a long way toward regaining the same community oneness that our parents and grandparents spoke of during their own youth.

Gregory Poole is a graduate student in metallurgical engineering. His column runs biweekly on Wednesdays.