2011 was a busy year in the news, with the toppling of repressive regimes, the death of a technological innovator, the controversy over Internet freedom and much more. A common theme inherent within all these major events is how unified people can become when they really believe in a cause.

And like always, this got me thinking (you know, neurons firing action potentials and whatnot). How do revolutions start? How can a population be inspired to actively strive towards one goal? How do you actually change something significant in this world?

Education has to be the single biggest factor when it comes to change that affects humanity. And I’m not just saying that. When you look at prominent issues on the planet today, the ones that seem impossible to tackle, such as poverty, human trafficking and global warming, only thrive because we lack universal education.

We are so fortunate here in America to have a strong public school system fueled with ample supplies and the latest technology, but this is not the case in more impoverished parts of the planet.

Having seen unimaginable decay in rural parts of India, I know that in many places, the absence of schooling beyond the primary level is considered an impossible issue to solve. When even basic necessities like food and clean water are lacking, how can one take the time to think about education?

I have seen humanitarian efforts take care of basic problems for a short time period. But after the aid workers leave, the cycle starts up again. Until people realize that educating themselves is the only way to improve their countries, the situation will remain stagnant.

There is perhaps no better example to illustrate this fact than an incident that occurred in an Indian village that my family visited in 2004. Because of the lack of electricity due to the infamous tsunami, the entire area had to resort to using water with impurities still in it.

However, one incredibly innovative local boy, who had risen through the ranks to get a college education, came back to the village and had solar-powered water pumps installed everywhere.

He had to fight through so much to be able to graduate from college. He needed to keep a part-time job to support his sisters, couldn’t afford new textbooks and had to study late at night by candlelight due to frequent power outages. But it all paid off.

This story has provided inspiration to me in more ways than I can think of. But, more than anything else, it has shown me that with educational opportunities, the tag “Third World country” will one day disappear. This would be the revolution of a lifetime, one that is the most plausible out of any that our generation can overcome.

I know it can happen because I have seen education affect the Brookline community on a smaller scale. When I first entered the high school, the homophobic slur “faggot” was thrown around carelessly by students who couldn’t care less what the word meant.

After a particularly effective LGBT assembly during my sophomore year, where students and teachers spoke up about how hurtful and unnecessary the word is, I have heard the word used much less frequently in hallways.

When Fred Phelps and his fellow Westboro Baptist Church folks visited later that year, everyone stood up against predjudice. The scenes from that day still stick out in my mind, with Dr. Bob holding fort majestically in a Dumbledore-esque manner, and bewildered passers-by not understanding why anyone in their right minds would hold up signs saying things like “God hates Jews.”

It’s up to us how we use the power of education to better our community. It gives me a lot of heart that we can unite when we really believe in a cause.