AC

So, I love my school. Not only do I get a great education, and a wonderful atmosphere, but they also offer so much more than that. In my time at UM, I've gotten to see a president, a vice-president (should be president), seven senators, the NEXT president of the United States, and arguably the best reporters from MSNBC and CNN (interestingly enough Bill O'Reilly has yet to get an invite). And of all those people I've heard speak, it was Anderson Cooper who left the greatest impression. Maybe it was the fact that he looks just as stunning in person as he does on TV. Or maybe it was the color of his eyes- like the sky on a warm May day in a Missouri field. Or maybe it was the genuine way he looked at me with them as I sat front row center. I don't know what it was, but I was riveted from the moment he opened his mouth until he ceded the microphone to Donna. I'm not sure what I expected him to talk about- the olympics maybe, or Palestine. But I certainly didn't expect to hear about the various items used to rape women in other countries, what it's like to see children starving, or what sniper fire REALLY feels like. After hearing so many accounts of the atrocities that other people experience, everything in my life seems so insignificant. If Anderson Cooper's goal in coming to college campuses was to make people want to drop everything and join the peace corps, well, it sure worked for me. There was just something about him, a man who always had everything, but was willing to give it all up, save a camera and his knapsack to trek accross Africa and show America what the rest of the world is really like. So, I figured I'd share my experience with you (whoever you may be- even if you is just me in 5 years), as while I think most in the audience on Monday were there because of his sex appeal and not his stories, my goals were legitimate, and I'm a better person for having gone. And while silly little freshman a couple rows back was deciding how best to approach him after the speech, I on the other hand was doing a mental 360: in an hour I had gone from feeling fairly educated to completely ignorant (at least on a global scale). Thank you AC, for showing me how much I have to learn. Thank you for speaking when Ethel Freeman no longer could. And thank you for breaking the silence in New Orleans, and not letting the only noise be the wind blowing over the streets filled with the tinder of peoples' former lives. Thank you AC.