With graduation around the corner, seniors are preoccupied with job hunting, graduate school applications and the last weeks of college. As we prepare to enter the “real world,” we’re all wondering where we will fit into the larger society. There are reasons to be excited and anxious. One question I keep coming back to is how I’ll bring what I’ve learned to my daily life. I have spent not only the past semester writing about diversity, but also the past four years learning about the way our differences (and similarities) affect our politics, our relationships and our world in general. We should all be thinking about how we can bring questions about diversity — and other issues — to our daily lives. How can we remain engaged in discussions about diversity, about inequality and social justice, after we leave Ithaca?

For years we’ve been put into an environment where we were constantly encouraged to interact with peers. Without classes, clubs, organizations and the college environment, we’ll have to find those connections and people on our own. Will the people we surround ourselves with all have the same ethnicity, the same sexual orientation, the same sex and the same political or religious beliefs? I don’t doubt that for many of us that would be a fairly easy path to take. It’s tempting to surround yourself with the familiar — with sameness — because when you’re trying to find a place to belong, outward appearances and surface similarities are easy bonds to cling to. After four years of college, though, I know that I would rather find people who challenge me — people who are able to look past the outward appearances and assumptions to see the deeper connections.

As we head off into the world, I hope we will continue to educate ourselves and to respond proactively to the issues we confront, particularly those related to diversity. In our society differences have split us apart. From war to hate crimes to discrimination, we are constantly faced with the negative responses to our diversity. We have the ability to work, in our own lives, to fight injustice and embrace our diversity, our differences. Even if you aren’t dedicating your life to such issues, you can incorporate acceptance into your life every day. As voters, we can support issues such as gay marriage and vote for political candidates who support anti-discrimination laws and equal opportunity legislation. As individuals, we can constantly question our own prejudices and stereotypes and work to dissolve them. It is our responsibility to continue to bring questions and discussions of diversity to our lives, whether on campus or in our communities; we can’t afford not to.