Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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«♦ should be concerned. When the eternal verities of the American human existence become the manipulative tool of ad campaigns and political rallies, it is obvious that a society is threatened to its very core. So although America may be back, there are still signs of moral and philosophical decrepitude with which the people who run the country will have to deal with. That particular burden has fallen upon us, the college students of the ' 80s. So while America may be back in heart, it s till has considerable work to do in the area of soul restoration. The key areas are not the popular social issues such as the question of abortion or birth control, but rather more fun- damental human values: honesty, competence, dedication, respect. If American college students are to capitalize (materially AND spiritually) from the recent resurgence of national pride and productivity, if they are to nurture and ride that wave into something lasting and significant, they must do so with the belief that their dedication can make a difference. To do so, they must seize upon the one fact that makes our nation unique - the abihty of those within its borders to control so much of their own destiny. The world is not some laboratory in which life is perfectible and we must never pretend this is so, for we lose two things: 1) the perspective of our past ex- perience and, 2) (it is here that the college students of the ' 60s erred, by not stopping to witness their accomplishments but raging on for more change) the realization that change, when it occurs, usually does so slowly. The ultimate winner is not the one who can rage the greatest and most fiercely for a short period of time, but rather to the one who perseveres, sus- tained by improvements but prodded con- tinually onward by the real possibiHties of the future. For all of its faults, America remains a place where much of the benefits and satisfactions a person gets out of his or her efforts is depen- dent upon what that person puts into them. This is a freedom so unique, yet one so unap- preciated. What does all this mean to college students at Creighton, or anywhere else? It means that the time has come for each one of us must realize the extent to which we are responsible for our own actions, and the implications of that responsibihty. It is not correct to presume, as most Americans used to, that anything that 1 can be conceived can be accomplished or anything that the U.S.A. does is correct -neither belief, as we have seen many times over, is always true. This is: that the future of ourselves and our country does not rest on divine providence, but individual choice. It depends on a large number of individuals within the society mak- ing the effort to make themselves better, then striving to improve their surroundings, their country and their world. It ' s a long, scary way from fate to choice, but it ' s an enlightening and exhilirating road to take. When we, as the protectors of America ' s future, see the difference that each one of us can make as individuals, we will be able to draw together, forge accomplishments from a vast reservoir of hope and ambition and make changes that will help the world beyond our own time. Can The American Dream still come true? Only if one is willing to pay a severe price in terms of effort and dedication, realizing all the while that the effort itself is ultimately what makes us all better. The American Dream can still be realized, if one chooses to search for it. And that search is the stuff that dreams are made of. The American Dream Revisited 11

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American Spectacles