One thing that has troubled me since beginning this incredible campaign to raise awareness of the national debt is the personal image it would reflect on me. Not to say that I care much about what people think of me. It has never bothered me before being the kid eating dinner alone or walking alone to class. It never bothered me being the only kid to raise my hand to answer a question that the teacher knew everyone knew the answer to. So why should I care about what people think of me when they see me being the “debt guy”. I shouldn’t! But unfortunately I could not shake the thought of being that “debt guy”.
What is the “debt guy” and why did I add such a negative connotation to being that guy? Well, for starters, who really cares about the national debt? I think the answer to that question is pretty obvious especially after doing the campaign. I mean isn’t that the whole reason we are doing the campaign in the first place? No one really gives a hoot about the national debt and that’s why we are trying to raise awareness on the issue. So since no one cares, why do I care if people see me as the “debt guy”? Well I guess maybe deep down I just want to fit in. I don’t want to be seen as an outcast. It’s never bothered me before so why does it bother me now?
Another thing that is maybe specific to my school is the fact that you almost never see the same random stranger twice. Now of course I am exaggerating but that really isn’t too far off. My school is a very big school and there are tons of people that you will just never get the opportunity to meet. That being said why do I even care if some people see me as the “debt guy”? I probably will never see them again either way. After thinking about it for a while I’ve decided that all of these fears of being the debt guy are incredibly ridiculous, and in fact I have even come to accept and admire my new title.
Being the debt guy means more to me than just caring about the national debt. To be honest, before doing this campaign I was like the average person in the way that I did not care too much about the national debt. I heard about this opportunity and thought it would be cool to learn a little bit more. I suppose in that way I am already different. Being the debt guy to me means being able to speak out about something you believe in. But how can I say that when I just said that I didn’t really care about the debt? It’s not that all of a sudden I have some immense motivation to tackle the debt problem single-handedly. It’s more about the fact that I have the courage to speak up. Just speaking up shows me that I have what it takes to be a leader and to be my own person. I’ve decided to embrace what it means to be the debt guy.
To me the next step in this transformation is being able to support my teammate’s fears of being the debt people and also being able to support anyone’s fear of speaking up for something they believe in. No one should be afraid to speak up but that doesn’t mean that people are never afraid. I think this campaign has shown me the true importance of being supportive. It’s really important for us to be supportive of people who are speaking up for what they believe in. When it comes down to it, I joined the Up to Us campaign because I wanted to help support something that I saw value in. I hope that everyone does a great job and is proud of themselves for showing the courage to speak up for this great cause.