2018 is teeming with change. The fates of some have taken a turn for the worse, as was the case for United States (U.S.) Internet users inconvenienced by the congressional decision to repeal net neutrality. Others have spied a faint glimmer of hope; the manual laborers in Korea University (KU), against insurmountable odds, triumphed over the school administration, and our leaders took advantage of the Winter Olympics to steer North-South relations in a new direction.

 

There is something that change always entails: hope and expectation. In the March issue of The Granite Tower (GT), our reporters crystallized such emotions. Within their articles are captured the eagerness of workers in the financial sector as they prepare to adopt blockchain technology; the apprehension expressed by voters witnessing the merger of two major political parties; and the resignation of KU students who hold little sway over school policies.

 

Above all, the heart of the March issue lies with the hopes of the weak, the maligned and the downtrodden. Those who had hitherto been confined to the margins of society have a reason to hope once more, thanks to activists like Ecofemme’s Park Jin Sook. A musical consoles those who rail against a prejudiced society by affirming their belief that difference is not tantamount to transgression. Likewise, our Cover Story tells the tale of how, through the lottery system, seemingly insignificant hopes are sublimated into a national program that restores hope to the disenfranchised.

 

The world remains blanketed in indifference and despair. GT itself has recently endured many rough patches, chief of which was the loss of one of its founding members. In the face of tragedy, we must take it upon ourselves to identify and spotlight the inklings of hope interspersed throughout our community. To inspire exploited laborers, “education recipients,” and other minorities around the globe to hope again; this is our generation’s burden.