One of the conclusions I have drawn after being in this class is that acting on a smaller scale is a more effective way to implement a system of values that one would ideally like to see everywhere. From the beginning of the semester, we have acknowledged Thomas More’s play on words – that “Utopia” is a good place that is no place. At first, it can seem disheartening. What is the point of trying to create a perfect place if it is impossible to devise a system under which everyone can be happy? There are too many variables, too many exceptions to the rule that simply cannot fit under one umbrella. No matter how many people buy into an idea, it is the nature of life on this Earth as a human being that someone will not find his or her brand of happiness in someone else’s Utopia.

However, the daunting futility of creating a utopia need not cause one to abandon his or her journey to an ideal, since it is along the journey itself where change happens. However improbable the existence of an actual utopia, to think about utopia can actually help one to take practical and realistic steps towards a goal. On a personal level, I am at that point in my life where I am about to enter the “real world”, completely overwhelmed with the unmapped territory ahead. It is not change or new experiences or leaving a comfort zone that is daunting. It is the desire to jump into everything and have a positive impact. I don’t know what my next step is because I can’t choose which interest to pursue, not because I don’t have interests. And this is where thinking about utopia has actually helped lead me to a tiny personal epiphany. Perfection does not exist, but one can still aim high. And so to make small steps, to act effectively on a small scale is better than making no steps at all. Eventually, those steps add up to something bigger, where the failures were just as important as the successes.