Last semester, Park University student Rachel Burning started the “Not On My Campus” campaign for her senior leadership CA490F course. This semester, I am trying to follow in her footsteps with my own campaign titled “Zero Hate One Love” with the group Students Against Xenophobia.

Rachel encouraged me to build a Facebook page where students can network with intercultural, anti-hate and peace-building projects.

I know wanting to build a better world is audacious but I do believe in it. My mother once told me that even as a small child I was upset because there was war in the world and I wanted to help stop it.

I think we all want to stop conflict, or at least most of us do want to stop war and violence, but we feel powerless because the problem is bigger than we are.

We feel too small, like drops of water, but the beautiful thing is that many droplets can add up to be an ocean-an ocean of change.

Albert Einstein once said, “Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes — goodwill among men and peace on earth.”

The concept of world peace, something we have been working on inevitably for centuries, is as age-old as civilization itself. It sounds simple but in reality it is a very hard task because those who lack compassion and empathy can make the world a terrible place to live in. This is why I believe developing empathy and care for each other through interaction can be beneficial.

This isn’t just a peace calling but a call for compassion. My vision is to make a change however small to end hate and to increase tolerance and acceptance and build unity. One love, just as the Bob Marley song says, “One love, one heart, let’s get together and feel alright”.

I feel Intercultural Communication is vital to the future of the world.  It is also the new frontier because we have yet to discover so much about all the other cultures that live on this planet.

I think this endeavor could trend easily and be a growing fad just like green tea, tree hugging and healthy eating.

Having international friends who eat exotic foods and speak different languages opens your eyes to something new about a culture you didn’t know about before.

We should seek to stop hate so we can live in a better world and so we can lay a foundation for the future. I want a world where all creeds look to another with respect; where people live an can co-exist in peace and harmony; where we may not be able to end war but maybe we can at least slow it down and make the world a little bit more caring.

Treating others with dignity, understanding and respect will help stop hate. The encouragement of active integration will change the social norm to zero tolerance for intolerance and racism.

Kindness and understanding can give rise for more kindness and understanding.

I think planting seeds of peace on an intercultural level should involve room for forgiveness, healing and learning about stereotypes that can be broken for those who may have less fortunate encounters with other cultures.

A friend asked me, when I told them I was writing about this, “How you call for fair treatment of a group that gets privileges for simply being a group?”

I think the baseline of my campaign will involve dealing with issues one on one and the individualization of cultures versus groups as a whole. This will help to break concept of the “them” thinking and nurture the natural compassion that lives insides us all.

Is there injustice in the world? Yes, every day but it has to stop somewhere because it is the right thing to do.

If we continue to live in a world that seeks an eye for an eye justice, eventually no one will be able to see at all.

For more information about my project or to show your support, go to www.facebook.com/parkstudentsagainstxenophobia.