But that’s not your sole responsibility.

You also are accountable to the university, which expects you to be open to learning, not just from your classes but your classmates.
It’s not bad that the university expects anything of you; if they didn’t, why would they admit you?

Because you were selected, you have the responsibility to put yourself in a position to give back to the place that enabled you to succeed in those endeavors.

You have to exert restraint, choosing to act in a professional manner, which I can tell you from experience is sometimes much harder than it sounds when you have philosophical differences between you and fellow classmates.

But the disagreements and debates make you stronger rhetorically and ideologically and serve the purpose of furthering your education.

That might sound tough, but what you get in return is worth it: University professors have a responsibility to you, the student, to provide a setting in which learning, not just rote memorization, is rewarded with advancement.

MSU is an atmosphere where race, gender, religion and socioeconomic status can be set aside in the name of knowledge. Therefore, the university has a responsibility to give you an experience and an education and an environment that’s worth perpetuating.
That’s right: The university owes you something, too.

Recently, I wrote an editorial about how the federal government, in the latest debt ceiling deal, cut loans for graduate students.

I think this tipped the scales of value the university holds. I thought that not providing enough help for undergraduate students incites them to not try to advance themselves. That’s something the country as a whole doesn’t need at this time, a time when we need highly educated individuals to think, work, build and ideate us out of the mess we’re in.

Ultimately, that’s why you matter. Because whatever your major, you’re needed.

Locally, regionally, nationally, internationally — everyone needs young, bright, well-educated individuals to move their households, their companies and their governments forward. I know as a senior, my time here almost is over.

Even though my responsibilities here in East Lansing are almost through, that doesn’t stop me from working as hard as I can to fulfill the obligation I feel to the professors and fellow students who helped me get to where I am today.

I know this year’s freshman class is the largest in the university’s history, and some of them might not yet be aware of the responsibilities and obligations they have.

But this message isn’t only for them. It’s for the sophomore students who might have forgotten that weight during the summer. It’s also for the junior students who might start to get complacent because they think they have a system down pat.

Lastly, the lesson is for the university administration and professors, who have to make sure it’s doing the most good for the most students, even though times are tough and belts are tightening in Lansing and Washington, D.C. From time to time, they also must be reminded the obligation they have to students.

If you’re a student, no matter who you are or what your past is like, on Wednesday you resumed your obligation as a Spartan.

Welcome back. It’s time to change the world.

Laz Jackson is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at jacks290@msu.edu.