I wouldn’t have considered myself an activist last year. I know college is the time to chain myself to a tree while the city tries to chop it down, but I never found any real hope in standing in a peace circle and singing Kumbaya.

After working to protest AmeriCorps cuts last year, I found a new inspiration for using my voice. I’m not radical like many of my anthropology classmates, but I’ve become interested in how movements form to create social change. Six weeks ago, I headed to Dewey Square to watch the start of Occupy Boston. The movement has taken off and spread more quickly than I imagined. I respect what is happening on campus – Occupy Northeastern.

Occupy NU has received a lot of criticism. Some of it’s founded and some absurd. I’ve recently joined the “Twitter-sphere” and was disheartened to see many ignorant messages directed at Occupy NU. Though some students did raise valid points, much of the negativity was unsound.

I’ve seen tweets that assert students have no right to fight against $50,000 tuition when they chose to attend. The point is that no tuition should cost so much that it is out of reach or will place students in long-term debt. Many of my friends have complained about the costs of education. I think they should respect that someone is finally being vocal about the exploitative costs. Other tweets complained about the irony of students skipping class to protest. To clarify, no students skipped class or co-op for the protest. The occupiers are not lazy. Don’t discount them as loiterers on Krentzman Quad. This is more than 15 kids sitting in a tent – this is a chance to engage in a dialogue about the direction of our country.

Occupy NU gives members of our campus an opportunity to focus on issues in our community. They have created a list of goals including working to combat a lack of workers’ rights, wage inequality on campus, and increasing transparency of tuition spending, among others. None of these seem controversial enough to cause students to respond with such negative messages as “I hope it gets cold tonight,” as I heard one student say as he walked by Monday.

Monday’s general assembly attracted a crowd of about 50 who wanted to be educated. I can’t say the same about those who’ve walked by the occupiers without stopping to ask what they’re doing and instead cower behind their computers and tweet false accusations about the movement. The Occupiers don’t want you to dropout and camp out. They want you to question the system, consider your happiness with current social structure and contemplate the societal changes needed to achieve satisfaction with the way things are. Occupy NU is an opportunity to become educated about what Occupy is about. This is a great opportunity to engage in conversation – whether you are infuriated, supportive or still uneducated.

I don’t think Occupy is perfect but I believe in its core messages. What I believe even more is this is an exciting time in our university, community, city and nation to express inequality. People have questioned the potential of success in protesting. Those people must have been hibernating during the Arab Spring. Something powerful is happening with Occupy. I invite you to join the discussion and welcome any rebuttal, because as I have stated, this movement is about creating dialogue. I challenge you, instead of posting a comment on the Internet, go down to Krentzman or Dewey Square. The answer to every status update or tweet that questions: “Why are those people pitching tents in Krentzman?” is go ahead ask them.

Remember that there was a time when our founding fathers realized it was important to give us a voice. Let’s not lose that voice. Find something you feel passionately about. And if it’s any of the issues of Occupy, join Occupy at Northeastern, Dewey Square and across the nation. If you’re not sure yet, just come to watch and learn – I promise they won’t make you drink any Kool-Aid.

–Hana Nobel is a senior international affairs and anthropology major.