Some days, we can’t help but feel small. No matter how straight we stand, no matter how high we jump, we’re just not tall enough. In a world overwhelmed by media’s ideals and society’s expectations, some days it’s really hard to feel like we are measuring up.

It doesn’t help that most days we hear about all the bad things going on in the world, and how not many people have faith in our generation to make it better.

But then you hear about Ana Alvarado, a 20-something-year-old who started a GoFundMe account to help a mother and her three children living off a dollar a day in Honduras. The goal was $100. Within two days, 1,600 people donated $33,000. They are currently building a small house for the family.

So our parents and grandparents might reminisce on the “better days,” but we’ve got a lot going for us.

Technology lets us help people thousands of miles away. Science and medicine are stronger now, and we are finding solutions to problems we never thought we could.

Connections we make extend farther in distance and last longer because of the Internet.

We are more accepting of different races and cultures because we have grown up with one another, every day proving another stereotype wrong.

We can travel to places that were unheard of traveling to 30 years ago because they are freer and safer.

We are beginning to see the world from a global perspective, rather than through the American lens.

Most importantly, we’ve grown up with our surroundings changing more rapidly than ever before in human history.

This is key, because we’ve learned to accept change.

There are a lot of people out there in the world right now who fear changing the way things are done. There are so many institutions that those before us have accepted as fixed.

Our generation sees nothing as fixed. Not only can we sway an election, but we can redefine our whole political system.

This world needs people who understand that the only thing that will fix inequality and poverty and terrorism and the climate is change.

And change is what we thrive on, what we seek.

I can bet I’m not the only one who has changed her mind about what she wants to do for a living. I came to Hartford wanting to be an author, then I wanted to be the president’s speechwriter, a Congresswoman, and now an environmental activist. For four years, I changed my mind every month.

But you know what? Not a single person at the University of Hartford ever told me I couldn’t do it. They never told me I wasn’t tall enough. All I received from faculty, staff and my peers was unwavering support.

But the real world isn’t like that. There are going to be people who tell you you can’t do things, who tell you you’re not tall enough. Those people are usually the ones who fear change.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you you’re too small to make a difference.

Imagine if all of us seniors tried to change the same thing about the University. They would have to listen to us.

Imagine if we joined with other college students across the nation and tried to lower the price of higher education. We could get it done!

Imagine if everyone on Earth put all their manpower toward the same goal. We could solve the world’s biggest problems one at a time.

We did, after all, change the life of that family of four in Honduras just because a couple thousand people each donated $20.

Together, we stand taller. Together, we can jump higher. There’s beauty in the masses. There’s power in large numbers. There’s change when we come together.

As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Well, here we are, class of 2015 — a small group of people. We’re entering a world that needs to be changed, and essentially it’s up to us to change it. Every single one of us has a role to play.

So live up the next four weeks, take advantage of everything college has that the real world doesn’t. And on May 17, celebrate, because you did it.

But the day after graduation, start changing the world.