So there I was, spell checking my beautiful column on how the police could work to improve their relations with society, when the computer from Hell froze up on me. I would blame the fact that we are forced to work with Macintoshes, but too many people remember the good ol’ days of the Oregon Trail to run a Windows-based machine.

Of course, my situation was not helped by having my boss walk in a half-hour after the fact and find me sitting at a blank screen. As if being a political science major is not enough, now I have to suffer the indignity of being a no-good beatnik.

Plain and simple, bad things happen. They happen to good and bad people in equal amounts, but we seem to only focus on the injustice done to us. Rather than deliver a soliloquy titled “Woe is Aaron,” I will instead get over it.

That brings me to my point in this new and revised column: You need to be an optimist. I say this because America seems stuck in a depression of sorts, where people only focus on the negative. We can look at any newspaper or television show, and all we’ll see is outright cynicism. Everywhere we look people would rather tell us what we can’t do instead of what is possible, and in that mindset we trap ourselves.

Prior to becoming a political science major, I had been in biochemistry and biophysics. After two good semesters, I finally flushed out when calculus and physics conspired against me, and I gave up on everything. But in the back of my mind, I knew I could handle organic chemistry, and last year I retook the class. When my “friends” found out I was going to do battle with organic once again, they all cringed. They honestly didn’t think I could do it and tried their best to discourage me from retaking the class. Even my parents openly doubted my sanity and reminded me I had failed once before.

Listening to all those people probably should have shaken my faith, but I one person did believe in me. She reminded me of the person I used to be, and because of her confidence in my abilities, I retook the class. The semester was tough, but in the end I proved all my detractors wrong.

The lessons that experience taught me are that every person needs someone who believes in him and negative people should be avoided like the plague. Looking back, I remember being told the old saying that people can accomplish anything if they put their minds to it. But strangely, as we get older we hear it less and less from our parents and peers. It exists only in our minds.

I know without a doubt that every person has it within himself to accomplish whatever he works at. It requires desire, focus and more persistence than one can shake a stick at, but it can happen. I see it every day. I go to the rec and see the same people there day in and day out. These people have the courage and determination to be there and are confident in their abilities. If they lacked a measure of self-worth, they would stay at home and watch Oprah instead of dealing with society.

If you have a goal or dream, I encourage you to go out and try your hardest to make it a reality. Don’t let anyone discourage you, and if somebody isn’t supportive of your goals, then talking to him is just a waste of time.

Negative people can only hold you back, and I would guess they’re victims of the same self-doubt that pervades most of society. That is sad because they are already dead inside. One wonders what pleasure they derive from life, or if they just sit there and complain about the fate that has befallen their lives.

The reason I am on this optimistic bent is because this past weekend two of my best friends decided to join me on a quest for a better life. Though we shall not be robbing banks to finance the endless summer or going to church five times a week, things will be looking up. What previous doubts my friends had have been replaced with boundless enthusiasm, and I have no doubt time will prove their beliefs correct.

I hope everyone who reads this thinks long and hard about something they’d like to accomplish and works to achieve it. If you possess a positive mindset, you can reach your goals, but it isn’t as though you can wake up one morning and decide to be a confident person and take on the world. Rather, you must build momentum.

Make a list every night of five things that must be done tomorrow, and after you complete them, check them off the list. With each completed task you’ll realize a degree of success and your enthusiasm will grow.

It sounds like crap but it works.

After this past school year, I am certain optimism is the way to go, though it is probably wise to be somewhat realistic. Don’t believe in magic bullets, and remember nothing is ever easy. But work hard and follow your dreams.

You can reach your goals.

This column may be off my usual path and make very little sense and for that I blame Post-Traumatic Stress syndrome.

Just be thankful I didn’t share the five rules to drunken driving that drastically reduce your chances of getting caught!

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Aaron Woell is a senior in political science from Bolingbrook, Ill. Macintoshes are the tool of Satan!