Looking back, moving forward

As the 2011 clock runs out, we reflect on lessons learned these past 12 months and reformulate our strategies for success in 2012.

This year, we have observed much political action outside of our Citrus College bubble, most notably the violent deaths of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi.

The retirement of the NASA space shuttle program ended in July marked the end of an era.

And the Occupy movement showed us that political activism could easily come together with a large number of tents and diverse multi-cultural New Age "hippies," but it could also turn ugly when sprinkled with a pinch of pepper spray.

Speaking of tents, we saw a similar display of fatigue endurance and determination in the superfluous amount of teenage girls camping out in anticipation for yet another "Twilight" film.

Gov. Jerry Brown's signing of the controversial California Dream Act, parts I and II, ignited a spark of hope for a handful of innocent but illegal students.

While these major news events were reported to us through television or Internet, we might have overlooked what happened on our very own campus.

The GraviTeam, a Citrus student run club, was chosen by NASA to go to Houston to conduct one of its very own experiments.

Students learned that lapses of judgment followed by careless Facebook-ing could strip you of a hard-earned position, and land you on the front cover of the campus newspaper.

Other students quickly stepped up, determined to represent their peers.

The theater arts program made the best of its temporary shut out of the Little Theater and in turn, gave five student screenwriters and a professor a chance to see their creations played out on the big stage in the first ever production of "Emerging American Voices."

We must strive to accomplish just as much in the next year, and set the bar higher for ourselves.

By learning from past mistakes and celebrating our accomplishments, we can move on and even excel in the year to come.

We have learned from the examples of the demonstrators and creative people we see on television and must become active in our own way.

If the activism taking place in Los Angeles, Oakland, or New York can inspire us as students to bring this same spirit and will power to our own community, we might be able to make a difference.

As young adults, we need to refocus our attention away from celebrities' 72-day marriages and instead concentrate on pursuing education, which, as we can see, is becoming more of a privilege than a right.

If we can apply the same concentration that we give to Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr, we can strive for a lot more than racking up "likes" and "reblogs."

Let us be proactive and use this new year as a fresh start to evolve socially, personally, and professionally.