We Need Leaders by Srujan

We Need Leaders by Srujan - May 2017 Scholarship Essay

Rising through high school and my first year of college, I was always one looking for an opportunity to prove myself as a leader, a chance to get better as one who acts for those who cannot act for themselves. I loved working to help those around me and constantly wanted to create a positive environment in my school and my community. As I grew, I envisioned ways to tackle challenges I noticed around me. I dreamed bigger, searched wider and wanted more. I looked for any way to solve an issue and brought potential solutions to the table; yet, I also saw how easy it was to reject an idea. It was frustrating to see charitable designs that could help hundreds or thousands not even make it to the public; I had to lay back and think about how this could possibly be. Everyone agrees that this is a problem, right? We could muster up the numbers we need to make this work. So why would anyone put down an idea that could improve lives?
Around this time, I had read The Stranger by Albert Camus, a story of an existentialist man undergoing a trial for a murder he had committed. The main character, Meursault, is detached from society; he does not make any distinction between “good” and “bad,” he feels neither excitement nor remorse for any of his actions, he does not have feelings and, therefore, does not express emotion. Meursault kills a man in the novel and goes to court for his actions, not trying to defend his actions or even expressing any regret, for he simply does not care.
He is ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death, a finding that he was still numb to; however, in his final moments of life before his execution, Meursault does something that neither the characters in the novel nor the readers could expect: he cries. A man who was never felt emotion, a man who felt no regret at taking a life, feels scarring pain in the moment he realizes that in a short amount of time, he will no longer be alive. Throughout the trial, no one could convince him that his actions were devastating. No one could persuade him to feel compassion for the man he killed. It was only when he was in his victim’s situation, in the moments before he was about to die, could he feel sadness. Only when he could empathize with the victim could he understand the stark impact of what he had done, what his life had amounted to.
Quickly in my academic career, I noticed a key attribute of society: people genuinely want the best for those in unfortunate situations, but are not likely to act on this feeling. The problem was never getting support for a cause; what made the enactment of ideas so difficult was the underlying reality that no one could truly understand the immensity of someone else’s situation. Everyone can read about struggles, about economic hardships, about social conflicts; but no one can comprehend the struggle of parents trying to provide meals for their children when they can barely afford to keep the lights on in their home. No one can understand what a student feels like when they are bullied each and every day by kids who they don’t even talk to. No one feels their pain unless they’ve been in that position themselves.
All my life, I thought the way to make people reach out to others was by redefining their purpose, by forcing their perspective to be altruistic and expecting them to suddenly think in some absurdly humanistic manner, but I realized that purpose cannot be bent, for purpose is rooted deep within the morals of each person. It’s impossible to make everyone change their strongest ideals to be more philanthropic, impractical to change people’s perspective by simply trying to make them view something the same way I do. The citizens in The Stranger tried this tactic on Meursault repeatedly, yet to no avail. Meursault is nowhere near the representative character of society, but through his story and his eventual end, Albert Camus brings to light a truth of mankind that many seem to push aside: people have a limited time on this planet to live life as they choose. Everyone expects a lot from their peers and fellow members of society, but disregard the basic truth that everyone envisions their life having its own unique meaning.
Life is too complex to boil everything down to “we must help others” or “we must be happy.” By simplifying purpose to this level, we cut out all the beautifully intricate features of life, such as learning, emotion, and experience, that make it so remarkable. It is when we empathize with the ideals of people do we appreciate an experience in life unique from our own. Only by empathizing can we hope to not only make a difference but also obtain insight of the world around us.
I do not aim to redefine purpose. I strive to reignite empathy. We do not revolutionize society by aiming to alter the perspective of those around us. In order to make a difference, to bridge the gap between those who are desperate for help and those who do not yet understand what sheer desperation truly is, we need to create insight.
We need leaders.