Head's Up on World Affairs

Looking backward, for me, the war in Ukraine started during a breakfast when I heard the declaration of war and commencement of military and diplomatic operations. Now it has caused petroleum and natural gas prices to rise due to Russia’s sanctioned supply chain to the world. When you or your parents are driving to the campus, that war far off on another continent is affecting the gasoline your car burns.

 

And if you look outside, isn’t it weird to have no snow at the start of January? Lots of countries experienced historic high temperatures during the past summer, and even as we stand in Canada, it’s above zero degrees in the supposedly colder time of the year.

 

In the south, a battle for the White House will soon ignite as Republicans bring young blood to the stage of the presidential election. COVID has resulted in many issues between factions in North America and around the world, and now, as new restrictions unfold, how will these hatreds and conflicts be resolved?

 

Many new social ideas are breeding in old countries. Iran had its massive protest that may lead to a change in situations. In China people started protesting against COVID restrictions. One day, maybe this coming year, maybe next year, all of these ongoing events may come to a nasty conclusion that involves all of us sitting here.

 

Stanstead is a small town. We don’t really see the scale of our earth on these streets, but it is those events outside of the town that forged these streets and quite frankly, our lives. You think you have been living a steady life, going to Colby for classes every day and eating and playing sports and sleeping. Day after day your life doesn’t change much, but in a sudden moment it may ascend or collapse into a new one just because of something that happened a thousand miles away from here and you don’t even know it.

 

When people are walking, they keep their heads up because they don’t want to hit a tree. So metaphorically speaking, keep your heads up for what is happening around out world. Every day before you go to bed, take a look on your phone or laptop about what happened in the world today. Be aware of the world we live in today, because it does affect every aspect of our life.