When I first came to Villanova, I complained about everything. I wanted to know why the food wasn’t consistent in the Pit and why all the same people were in the same organizations. I ran my mouth, and I applied for every single organization that sounded like it would be fun. I was rejected from all but one.

So, I tried again and was accepted to all the organizations I tried out for and quickly realized that there are so many people in the same organizations because they all have a common theme. Some people see it as a way of being popular, while others see it as a way to help Villanova grow. But, as Father Dobbin warned, I didn’t want my academics to get in the way of my learning. It was through those organizations that I was able to complain about Villanova and then do something about it.

Everywhere you turn, you can probably find something to complain about at Villanova, whether it is the lack of chicken fingers on campus or how much the lottery sucks. The lottery does not, in fact, suck, and if you actually read the e-mails that Student Development sends out, you would know when to pick up your tickets.

Complaining and doing nothing about it gets you nowhere. Complaining and then doing something about the complaint is what will change things. Every year, there are complaints about the lottery and SGA. But only one-third of the student body voted in the presidential elections last year, and far less voted in the Senate elections for their respective colleges. In fact, there is no one running for any of the three Liberal Arts Senate positions or the positions for Nursing and Engineering Senators.

The process to run for those positions is actually very simple. Get 200 of your peers from your college to sign a petition, get some people to vote for you and then participate in the legislative body of the university where faculty, staff, administrators and students come together to make decisions that will affect the future of the university, but that is just too easy. So, I guess complaining and doing nothing about it will suffice for now.

It certainly is not an easy task to represent anybody, but it would be nice to get more than one-third of the student body to vote in the upcoming election. It may not be easy to represent, but it is simple to elect those who want to voice their concerns. Click the link sent out from student development and pick a ticket. It only takes 15 seconds. I know that I may be preaching to the choir here, but if we all told one of our whining friends, we could actually make a difference.

So the next time you want to complain, ask yourself … what have I done lately?