Plenty for UNM students to be thankful for

As we gear up for the holidays, people often ask us what we are thankful for, and that is such a loaded question. It’s hard, because there are two ways to look at almost everything as a college student: I can be unhappy that on a Saturday evening I am writing an article instead of celebrating my friend’s birthday, or I can be thankful because I have a warm home to be working from.

We can all fall into complaining instead of recognizing the good, but this season I’m going to try and focus on what’s good. So instead of being upset that UNM was wrongfully labeled “terrorist-friendly,” I am going to be damn pleased that I get to attend a university that celebrates diversity. I’m happy to have spent time with students and student organizations that were the “cause” of this outrageous label, and to know that they are in fact incredible people: people with whom I’ve shared a senate chamber and people that I’ve made memories with in Zimmerman Plaza.

I’m thankful to be at a university with cross country champions.

I’m glad to work alongside incredibly talented and good-hearted people. People who ran, planned and made our annual Arts and Crafts Fair happen so that we may get to experience the local talent of Albuquerque. I was in awe as I walked up and down aisles, taking in all the scents and sights.

And I’m thankful for the ASUNMers who spent their time meticulously decorating ornaments for the Giving Tree in the SUB Atrium and, more importantly, for the students who have taken ornaments and are buying gifts for those in need.

I am thankful to see students with limited means giving what they can to others, and an ASUNM agency and volunteers who spent this last week helping the elderly pick out donated coats to keep them warm this winter.

I am grateful that, in a world that’s hurting and divided, our students came together in the SUB to create art this last Friday, and that I got to stand there watching people different in every possible way paint what they wanted peace for on a shared canvas. Everyone was there for a different reason: Some were there for France, others for refugees, and one man was there just because he was so tired from working at a computer for hours that he just wanted to watch people paint because it made him happy.

These people who were different, even opposites, in every imaginable way joined in the singular mission of just wanting a better world.

This time can be a time of complaining. We can complain that it’s cold outside but not cold enough for school to be canceled, or that we’ve been studying too hard to sleep. Or we can look around and be thankful, because no matter who you are and what you’re going through, no matter how challenging life is, there is always something in this world to be thankful for. It may take some looking, but I’m grateful that there is always something to be in awe of.

So thank you, UNM.

Alex Cervantes is the ASUNM vice president for the 2015-2016 school year.