Think your ideas are too big?

Almost exactly a year ago, while studying abroad in Spain, I traveled to Geneva, Switzerland with one of my best friends. One frigid Genevan evening, we convened in our hostel’s common area and started to brainstorm, asking ourselves the question, “How can we make change in Dallas?”

That initial conversation was the genesis of Tale of One City, a bilingual literary and arts magazine for Dallas teens funded by the Provost’s Big iDeas Program. Today, we are preparing for a coffee house where the top submissions we received will be read.

We received more than 130 entries of art, literature and music from students in the Dallas area. From these pieces, we seek to create change through starting a community-wide conversation about what life is like in Dallas – for everyone. Through this conversation, we hope to combat racial, socio-economic and educational segregation in Dallas.

A big idea, I know.

Yet, it is only one project in a long line of grandiose ideas funded by the Big iDeas Program. There are students across SMU’s campus tackling issues like health literacy, immigration, personal finances, educational inequality and psychological health. These students are community leaders in the Dallas area. They are active Dallas citizens striving to make a difference. They are also your peers.

You can do the same.

Unfortunately, the program, which gives students as much as $5,000 to execute their idea, is one of the many opportunities for undergraduates that is unknown and under-utilized. Nonetheless, you can pursue your big idea.

You can make change happen in Dallas.

Bursting the SMU bubble is the first step. Step out into the city of Dallas. You’ll find a different picture of life in this city. Get to know the people that are your neighbors, and ask yourself how you can care for them. Make partnerships with other organizations and community leaders.

Along the way, it’s going to take a lot of hard work and persistence. Neither Rome nor Dallas was built in a day.

Rather, they were constructed with the hands of many sedulous people day by day. So too, must you become a hard worker in the field, willing to overcome bureaucratic, logistical, technological and ideological challenges. You must execute your idea with ingenuity and persistence.

If you do so, you may just find that you’ve facilitated a huge change in Dallas. In the wake of your efforts, your big idea may become a big reality.  The goal of the Big iDeas program is to empower students to change the Dallas community for the better. You can create that change.

So ask yourself, “How can I make productive change in Dallas?”

Don’t be afraid of the answer or the subsequent action that may be required of you. Start a movement, be a leader, make some change. This is college, for Pete’s sake. Now is the time to pursue your elaborate ambition and to earn some chops. So get your hands dirty. Become a community leader. Follow your big ideas.

Drew Konow is a senior religious studies, foreign languages and literatures  major. He can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].