It’s the end of the semester, and, for seniors, the headlong rush of finals is tinted in a yellowed hue of nostalgia.Their college careers are coming to a close. For many, it’s the end to a whole lifetime of school — and they stand on the high diving board about to take the plunge into “The Real World.”And, recently, we’ve been hearing a chorus of voices saying the pool is freezing cold.Let’s not tippy-toe around here — the economic crisis brought a swift and terrifying end to easy years of prosperity. As Americans begin to emerge from the devestating recession, we have all learned the hard way the reprecussions of a life of luxury purchased with money beyond our means.And, for all the talk of recovery, we still face a future that seems far dimmer than the prosperous one graduates looked forward to only a few years ago. Unemployment is still in the double digits, and many careers for which students have been training during their entire tenure at the University are shriveling before our eyes.Many of us here at The Daily Reveille aim for journalism careers. And, like many others, we’re watching with desperation as those careers seem to disappear into a world of apathy, corporate control and insularity.As our graduates receive their diplomas, they walk off into an uncertain future where those diplomas might not mean anything.So what do we do about it?There’s already a great deal of speculation about how our generation will respond to insecurity and uncertainty. Some say we’ll become a “lost generation,” where a fortunate few break into meaningful, fulfilling careers while the rest toil in whatever menial job they can get. They say the trend of apathy and uninvolvement that has so far marked our participation in society will hold, and the great forward progress that is our birthright will remain unfulfilled.Such is the easiest way to respond to crisis — to despair and accept our fate.But that’s not the way it’s going to happen.There have been times in the not-too-distant past when young people were looking at a world far grimmer than the one we’re looking at today. You need only ask our grandparents.It was in the darkest hours of the Great Depression that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President. In his now-legendary inauguration speech to the nation, he addressed hurdles that are eerily applicable to today:”Values have shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income … The withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone. More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence.”Seem familiar? It should — it sounds exactly like what we’re told daily by politicians and media alike.The generation of our grandparents faced challenges like ours but to a far greater degree. They fought the same paralyzing greed, the same crushing financial insecurity and the same uncertain future.Today, they are called the “Greatest Generation.””This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly,” continued Roosevelt. “Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure, as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.”The future is uncertain, yes — but not necessarily dark. Our prospects are slim, but they have not necessarily vanished.There’s another solution besides apathy, resignation and fear. As Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”The “greatest generations” aren’t the ones that come from affluence and easy living. They’re the ones that come out of hardship and hard work.If the failings of our parents teach us one thing, it’s that money isn’t everything. It’s that politics and a society of hate and divisiveness don’t forge progress, but breed failure.It is, as Roosevelt said, that “these dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.”Don’t give up, class of 2010. Don’t let the future scare you.We have nothing to fear but fear itself.Matthew Albright is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.—-Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]