The other night I was asked a simple question at one of my school's dining halls: would I ever intern for Fox?

I was very quick to answer yes, which was followed by another immediate disgusted noise by someone else at the table. I was shot down before I could even begin to justify my reasoning and the two other people at the table were quick to attack.

It's extremely important to be able to have an open-minded discussion without completely shutting down parts of the discussion that you don't agree with. Just because you don't like what someone else has to say doesn't mean that it's invalid. In order to educate yourself better, it's so beyond crucial to hear all sides of an argument.

I explained, in between snippets of how horrible Fox is, that after college you can't just expect to get a major job at a massive production company. Everything in the arts is all about getting the necessary experience regardless of where you're able to work. Straight out of school, trying to pursue the arts as a full time job can be difficult and unfortunately being picky isn't the smartest option. Experience is experience is experience and the people you meet and network with while working will ultimately make the most of your experience.

Not everyone has the opportunity to depend on their parents after college until they find their dream job straight out of school. Understandably, if your family has a lot of money and doesn't mind financially supporting you for the rest of your life that's great, but not everyone can rely on that financial stability. You need to work to survive and that consists of paying for rent, gas and electricity, and water on the minimalist scale. Throwing groceries, required attire, and monthly phone and car bills into the mix makes it especially tough to be choosy.

Hearing other people's sides without expressing disgust is such a fundamentally significant social skill. The thing is, you won't agree with everyone, and that's OK. There's no feasible way you'd be able to but working as an intern at company that you don't politically agree with doesn't make you a bad person by any means. It means you're trying to survive in an industry that throws out those that aren't willing to take entry level jobs.

There is a prevalent Emerson bubble, and that's OK while we're at Emerson. I tend to agree with a majority of Emerson students and my beliefs tend to coincide with theirs but once we graduate and enter the real world, we have to prepare for a world where a bubble isn't existent. People have different views from us and that's alright and it's important to find out why they believe what they do. In order to be a well-rounded person, we have to be able to listen and take in what other people have to say.

This bubble HAS to be acknowledged because many liberals, such as myself, gravitate towards other like-minded people. The problem with this gravitational liberal-ness is that we are unaware of the opposing forces. The recent election is an exemplary illustration of such. Conservatives left and right claimed that the liberals were essentially an echo chamber of collective thought. When we discuss issues with one another we have a tendency to re-use phrases that we find relevantly provocative and enticing. The way to convince all people isn't by dismissing other people and their opinions. In fact, that'll just have the same effect of the election. We don't win people over by simply telling them that they're wrong and they shouldn't think the things that they do. You win differently-minded people over--if they're willing--through captivating conversation to introduce them to new schools of ideas and thoughts. The one re-occuring and indispensable theme however is open-ness.

So what I have to say to the two people that shot me down is simply: it's fine that you don't agree with me. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. What I do expect however is a logical discussion following that isn't an attack of character. I expect a logical follow-up conversation that isn't an attempt to criticize and misconstrue each word. Just one word: listen. Listen with an open mind. It'll get you far in life.