Imagine living in a place where nothing you ever said made a difference. Where from your childhood to the end of your adult life, none of your opinions and ideas ever made it farther than the people who have either once tucked you into bed or shared one with you.

Chances are, you are living in this place. It’s your little bubble. Maybe you’re socially and politically conscious; you come up with ways to fix the problems of the world over coffee or taco salad with your closest friends. But unless it’s election season, your senator or representative won’t be knocking on the door during your gabfest to hear what you have to say.

Perhaps you’re just one of those people who prefers to complain about the issues as opposed to actually doing something about them. Or maybe you are motivated but the massive problems confronting the world — everything from world hunger to the cost of a double cheeseburger — overwhelm you.

Since we are all in college (“your mom goes to college”), how about some practice? The student body (well, less than one-eighteenth of the student body) just elected two new leaders to Oakland University Student Congress, Kristin Dayag and Saman Waquad. Their platform is based on bringing the OU community together and one of the ways they want to do that is by being accessible to students who have problems and concerns.

But if less than 5 percent of the student body voted, even less are going to take advantage of all the student organizations, including OUSC, on campus.

Let’s put this into an economic perspective, since students are struggling to pay tuition among other bills like unlimited Internet access on your Palm Treo. In fall 2008, $454,225 was collected for student activities fees from all of the 18,169 students who payed tuition. $431,925 of that is from students who didn’t even vote in this last student election and it’s going toward events, food and other goodies that only involved students will enjoy.

So come on night class students and under involved, yet strong-minded traditional students. Let’s take them up on their offer. What better way to get a feel for maneuvering around the political system than to practice with our peers?

Getting to know student leaders and others involved in campus organizations can also give you a network of friends in countless areas, and with Facebook, you can take them with you wherever you go.

Once you wet your feet, don’t stop there. Branch out and network with local and state leaders. You would be surprised how government officials whose jobs depend on your vote are influenced by their constituents’ (your) opinions.

OUSC and government relations sponsored their 12th annual OU Day at the Capitol Tuesday, which allowed students to travel to Lansing and meet with State Representatives and Senators about issues and ideas that most of us only talk about over coffee and taco salad. The difference is, the students who network with student and state leaders aren’t in their bubble anymore.