Kaback: Great ideas won’t think themselves

Holy hot ham water! With “Arrested Development” announcing its return to American televisions and Wall Street under siege, who has time to pay attention to anything else? Holy hot ham water! With “Arrested Development” announcing its return to American televisions and Wall Street under siege, who has time to pay attention to anything else? It’s like I took one night to study for a midterm and suddenly people can both ask and tell in the military.

I always feel like I’m so behind on everything. From the news to school to my Netflix queue, I cannot keep up. The Joneses are miles ahead of me, and my metaphorical track career is ending faster than everyone but Usain Bolt’s.

So I hope that you understand when I say, I really wanted to write something spectacular. I wanted you to read this and tear up with the emotional power of the words. I wanted the masses to pick up the fight to end something that’s bad. I wanted it to inspire you to start reading all the major newspapers, to fly to Syria and revolutionize the world, and to join a volunteer group.

I wanted to write something that would make J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown discover another bestseller. I wanted to make Damien Hirst go out whaling and Steven Spielberg to find his masterpiece. I wanted President Barack Obama to suddenly realize that there is some way to create jobs, and everyone could simply be happy.

I wanted to make people who don’t read, read. I wanted to make people who don’t think, think. I wanted people who don’t smile, smile. I wanted to make people who don’t feel, feel. I wanted to make people that don’t believe, believe.

I wanted my article to be like twirling the last pieces of pasta in Rome. It should have been like fresh cod wrapped in newspaper with chips in London. It should have felt like drinking beer at Oktoberfest or green tea in the Himalayas. I wanted it to make the masses crave the recipes and simple cooking of grandmothers.

I wanted to say something to shoot Pitt to the top of all of the rankings. I wanted raters to say, “Look at what was written here. Look at how it changed the whole world.” I wanted to make people flood the Cathedral Lawn and picnic in Schenley Plaza. I wanted to make lines to Hillman Library and the museums back up to Shadyside with people wanting to find copies of this article.

I wanted to make people listen — I mean really listen — to something that a 20-year-old wrote. I wanted the world to stop and wonder if they have it all wrong — if there is no reason that something as arbitrary as age or gender or race would ever make a substantial difference.

I wanted to make the politics stop. I wanted to have the Left and the Right realize that they can be just one. I wanted to end all of the wars and to start all of the good works. I wanted to see the bickering end and the hecklers silenced. I wanted to make people realize how amazing the right to vote can be and what great freedoms we hold within our grasp.

I wanted to make you call all of your family members just to say you love them. I wanted to write something so powerful that you have lunch with that person you’ve been meaning to have lunch with, and you decide that it would be nice to write a letter to a good friend. I wanted to make you realize that the professor in front of the class actually cares about you and that support is all around.

I wanted to write something that would make the clouds decide to give up and let the sun shine through. I wanted something that would stop the rain from falling on your newly cut hair and make all of the traffic lights the color you want them. I wanted to write something that would forever be remembered.

Unfortunately, I had a project due. I know, you had one due too. And then you had the job and the club meeting and the already twice-rescheduled practice. I know that you wanted to write the same article that I wanted to. Or if not an article, you wanted to play the perfect game or give the perfect speech. You wanted to do something that would last beyond the end of the day and make everyone understand whatever it is that you need them to.

As college students, we deal with a lot of pressure. On top of assignments and workloads, we have to take the time to wonder if it was really worth all of that debt and if there will actually be a job market when we graduate. In doing so, we file away those great ideas that we had, just so that we can get through the week. I think it’s time to stop that. I think it’s time for me to pull that great idea back up so that I can write that absolutely perfect article, and I think you should too.