On the morning of November 11, we at Bel Air High School got to witness something that didn’t seem very out of the ordinary: an assembly on Rachel’s Challenge, telling the story of a teenage girl that left a list of beliefs and an ethical code after she passed away during the Columbine High School shooting of 1999. These challenges were to look for the best in others, to dream big, to choose positive influences, speak with kindness, and to start your own chain reaction. While the presentation may have seemed overly sentimental and exaggerated for some people, it truly got me thinking.  Rachel Scott was the typical all-American girl with dreams and if she hadn’t died in such a dramatic and mournful manner, we probably would not think much of her or even know her name. She had barely gotten to live her life yet there is a whole crusade with 21 million people behind her name throughout the world. And why is that? It wasn’t just because she believed. It was because she had an idea AND she had people behind her that supported her beliefs. That’s pretty much how religions and political parties come about. But what can you, a typical 21^st century teen from a midsized suburban town, do to change the world? With the Internet, there’s a whooole lot. From people like Malala Yousafzai, to petition signing websites like whitehouse.gov, there are a lot of ways to gain inspiration to make change.

The best way to start off is to think about what you want to do. Do you want better and healthier lunches? Do you want Michelle Obama to perhaps bring back the fatty cookies and onion rings? Write it down. The best ideas are implemented when you actually remember them, so write them down or type them up or telepathically send them to yourself! A movement doesn’t mean anything unless you’re organized and have a concrete goal behind it. How are you going to do it? Do you plan to start a club at school? Host a rally? Take cues from those crazy powerful world leaders of history and write a manifesto. Another way to go about this is specifying the exact steps you plan to take in a list. It doesn’t have to be long, it just has to make sense!

At the next stage of the game, you’ve got to educate and organize. This is where one must know what exactly they are doing. This is more important than you think. What questions do have about your topic? If you wanted to start an animal rights club at our school, you may have to look into the scientific evidence against animal testing or the theories of animal advocates. Some other aspects of the research process that you could look into is finding fact-based tidbits about your movement. The trivia you have should contain some type of shock value that could convince someone to change their opinions and better yet, come to yours! Be as sneaky and well-read about the concept of your social movement so no one can belittle you by shutting your ideas down.

Next, take some cues from others. You’re probably not the first person to ever think of your aim unless it’s something like starting a fascist skeleton army to take over the world and destroy capitalism (this may not be the most useful movement to launch.) People have been moving and shaking the way things are since the beginning of time and movements spring up all the time! If you were planning on starting a recycling movement in your neighborhood, look into the beliefs of conservationist groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, and Greenpeace. Or maybe just link up with another society in your area! Are you looking into a way to a spark a LGBTQ revolution? Look into the history of the Gay Liberation movements of the early 70s!

You’ve gotten all the information you need and the meaning behind your coalition, but you don’t need people for a movement? Get some people! Get your friends, your mom, your dad, your brother, your neighbor and anyone else that you can get. Bonus points if you can get a teacher or an administrator (like a class advisor) to help boost your idea and pitch it as a club. That’s how the Yoga Club, Smash Club, and more came to be! You can’t start a war without troops.

The thing about changing the world is that you eventually have to get to the world part. Rally some other people to your side by spreading the word. With Twitter, Facebook and blogging platforms, it’s so much easier to mobilize your movement through the Internet, but there’s still other old-school options. You can spread your message with pamphlets, brochures, posters and signs and stickers and more. I mean, what would the Riot Grrrl Feminist movement of the 90s have been if it weren’t for zines? It probably wouldn’t have lived on to this day and inspired tens and thousands of girls in tattoo chokers to speak up for women’s rights. Alongside social media platforms, we have another important social tool: the petition. Websites like change.org and ipetitions.com offer an electronic alternative to the standard protest instrument.

The entire point of starting a social movement is to fight for something that you believe in. In the end, it doesn’t matter what steps you follow to get your movement running. What matters is that you get up and go get it and not let anything stop you (but again, if you’re making effort for an ultra-socialist undead army to destroy the free market, you need to find something not illegal and impossible to battle for). Rachel Scott did this, the Founding Fathers did this, Martin Luther King did this, and so can you. Change comes to those who are passionate and those who try.