A couple of years ago, a good friend of mine told me, “Stop being terminally online and touch grass.”
Like many young politicos entering college, I was a hobbyist, obsessing over elections abroad, poring over pages of Washingtonian palace intrigue, and scrolling through Twitter checking up on the latest Senate deals negotiated by Mitch McConnell. Simply put, I was a political addict.
I remember my early months at Cornell, campaigning for freshman rep to push through the Big Red Dividend (yes, I was an Andrew Yang fan). I also remember being very opinionated on different issues, from the perils of socialism to the Student Assembly’s budget—both disastrous.
From the regulatory reaction to the GameStop short squeeze to the police presence on campus, I approached each topic with the unbridled zeal and enthusiasm of a rabid ideologue. And why shouldn’t I? After all, we were constantly told that we could change the world for the better.
It also seemed like a lot of my peers had the same thoughts. In 2020, climate activists protested to demand that Cornell divest from fossil fuels. And earlier this academic year, a handful of protesters disrupted Ann Coulter ‘84’s event, with one saying her “words are violence.” This all-or-nothing mindset seemed pervasive.
However, in the past two years, I began to realize that a majority of students didn’t really care about any of this. Most of the student body does not care about the Student Assembly anymore, to the point where barely ten percent of students care to fill out an online ballot. Many folks I talked to didn’t even know that Coulter came to campus.
Most people just want to go to class. They want to play volleyball on the sand courts, grab a meal at the dining hall, and hike Ithaca’s “gorges” trails. They want to go out to Level B on Friday nights, watch the next episode of Succession, or curl up with a good book. They simply had a desire to live and enjoy their lives, without the added burden of political woes. Politics was the last thing on their minds, and they were much happier for it.
Does this mean all political engagement is bad? Absolutely not. There are a number of issues that directly affect students, from the state of free speech on campus to public health policies. But while it is important to keep yourself informed, you should avoid crossing the line into unhealthy obsession.
So, if you’re a recovering politico, close your Twitter and put down your phone. Go outside and touch some grass.
This article originally appeared in the Cornell Review Spring 2023 print edition.
