The Power of One
By Anonymous
The hidden histories and stories we have looked at from UCSD’s past have left a deep impression on me. It feels surreal to be sitting in the same spot where George Winne Jr. self-immolated himself. As I walk into Revelle Plaza, I find myself thinking about the true history of this campus. I realize how many of the buildings and locations where activism has occurred have not changed. However, activism itself has changed from the way it was during the Vietnam War. Are we more divided than before, to the point that the spark within us fails to come out? Are we more or less united than in George Winne Jr.’s time?
I think the most profound insight I reached is that anything is possible with enough support and dedication. I entered this course with the view that, as a single person, I am not able to make a large impact on the causes that I care about. However, thinking about the climate of UCSD during the Vietnam War, all it takes is a lot of support and some risk-taking by a few individuals. At the same time, though, I think about the struggles we all face today, and how many of them are the same struggles that students experienced back then too.
If those aspects of society were not able to be structurally fixed in the last 50 or so years (and some aspects like the wealth gap have become even more pronounced during that time), then how do we hope to be able to change things in the future? How do we keep the spark alive? How do we stay united? How do we replenish hope? I think we need to keep in mind the progress of the last 50 years to try to remain optimistic about the progress of the next 50 years.