Confessions of a former TV junkie

Sometimes you can learn from television.\nI learned a lesson by watching the NBC show "Cheers" that used to air during the 1980s and 1990s. It starred Ted Danson as Sam Malone, a recovering alcoholic turned bar owner in Boston. He befriended Diane Chambers, an intelligent but pretentious and insecure barmaid; and Norm Peterson, an accountant who probably couldn't count the beers he consumed in one evening.\nThey all knew one another but were very different from one another. They didn't always agree, and, when they didn't, they argued loudly. In the end, though, they realized they were more similar than different.\nThe world is a lot like that bar. You have the pretentious, the knowledgeable, the wise, the ignorant, the close-minded, and the list goes on. But people are who they are. The actors on "Cheers" demonstrated this truth week after week. \nNow that I'm on the threshold of my senior year at IU, I have come to understand the message of "Cheers," and I am still learning it in new ways every day. I felt awkward and uncomfortable when I first came here. I was a small town girl at a big university, and I couldn't have felt like more of an alien.\nWorking at the IDS is what helped me realize that I am not an alien or all that different. Human beings want to make a mark; they all have a message. This was evident as my colleagues and I struggled to report, edit and produce a newspaper daily. We had stories about school shootings in the United States, children being sent off to war in the Middle East and about women being denied their right to an education in Afghanistan. These stories made me wonder about the people with whom I share the planet. \nBut, as in "Cheers," the people committing crimes, oppressing others and doing a variety of unthinkable acts had a message, regardless of how revolting I found it.\nWe all want to make a difference, but it's how we go about it that matters. Some make their thumbprint by volunteering, some do it by becoming doctors, mechanics, teachers or engineers. Others do it by producing music, art or sports. Sadly, too many do it by hurting others, by victimizing groups of people in one form or another.\nI try to make my mark by writing and speaking up about as many things as possible. I don't say it with a loud voice, but with a steadfast tone that is consistent with my beliefs. I started this column last semester for these reasons. I wanted to bring an awareness to world issues and help influence change for the better.\nSo seniors, I know by now you've been given lots of advice. You've been told not to quit when things are hard. You have heard that life will take you places you might not have planned to go. (I'm sure you've been reminded to donate to your alma mater.)\nBut, of all the lessons to be learned, what can't be learned in a classroom is what's most important: Difference is good. Diversity programs try to teach this. Be different. It's not a good thing to keep quiet. Speak out against injustices for people who need a voice but can't find one. Find that one thing that makes you fight and stay true to it. As long as you have that, you won't go wrong.\nGood luck, seniors. Cheers.