For most of my life I have known that the United States is a global superpower. There is a general understanding that our country is among the best, through patriotic civics classes and busy Fourth of July barbeques, but it never really occurred to me just how different my life is than the average global citizen. 

Call me naive, but it just recently started to dawn on me that the lifestyle I lead is in the minority. Living amongst people who all live similarly to you makes it difficult to remove yourself from the comfort of your own life and insert yourself into the perspective of someone else’s. Since I have been in college, I have experienced this removed sense of stress and concern for how most people around the world live. In many of my classes we have had these difficult, but important, conversations. 

Environmental injustice threatens populations that had no part in creating the global climate crisis. Women walk miles to collect water that is polluted with bacteria, only to have no way to clean it. For some, factories with horrible working conditions and low pay are the best job option available. All while I join less than 7% of the global population with a college degree, buy cheap clothes from overseas, and take 15 minute showers. It is unfathomable how different resource consumption is around the world.

My perspective over my own life will never be the same. I can cut red meat from my diet, drive an electric car, and even become a lawyer to fight for environmental justice, but I will always belong to my life of unsustainability, privilege, and waste. I think if we all came to this conclusion earlier in our lives, we would have more respect for the glut of resources we are handed everyday. It is easy to consume ourselves in our lifestyle, and not appreciate the incredible gift many of us, especially at a University, were given at birth.