The temperature in Montréal, Canada during the first weekend in November was a frigid -10 degrees Celsius. So why were thousands of people from the Caribbean gathered there for the weekend? Despite the cold outside, the fifth annual conference held by the Concordia Caribbean Students Union was hot, hot, hot! Not ones to miss out on the action, our very own Caribbean Students Association sent four representatives to the gathering.

We were able to meet large numbers of students from Princeton, Harvard, Boston University, University of Toronto and many other schools from the East Coast and Canada. It was amazing to network with students from other parts of the Caribbean, who were of Caribbean heritage or simply interested in learning more about the region.

Under the theme of the weekend, “Investing in Our Future,” we discussed investing in our futures personally through education and as a region through the Caribbean Community & Common Market (CARICOM). The keynote speaker, Professor Clarence Bayne of Concordia University, posed the question, “Why are you here?” If you are going back home, why are you going back? Is our motivation simply to make money and buy a big house on the hill? Do we want to use the education we obtain in college to help people? Do we want both?

To whom much is given, much is expected. In many respects, being a student at Macalester is a privilege. We all have a responsibility to make a difference—to use what we have learned here in a way that matters. Caribbean students, and most other students, are caught between the big house on the hill and nation-building. It is only natural to be torn between self and others.

Fortunately, many people have found avenues to positively impact their community while doing things they love. Calypso artist Mighty Chalkdust has been making a difference in Trinidad for three decades by blending political and social commentary into calypso music. In fact, his Ph.D. dissertation from the University of Michigan was on the use of calypso music as resistance in Trinidad’s history.

At the conference, we were introduced to the ways that we could make a difference and invest in our futures now. Kevin Aberdeen, a Trinidadian student at Howard University, founded an organization called Step Up through which current Caribbean students studying in North American universities can encourage high school students in their home countries to pursue tertiary education.

From our own experience at Macalester, we know how easy it is for our future goals to become hidden behind an endless stack of work. Sometimes, we also become so caught up in playing a role, or being seen as the stereotypical “cool Caribbean,” studious Economics/Math/Computer Science international student or the carefree jock, that we forget to explore other areas of our personality and life. At this conference, we realized that we all need to spend time thinking about why we really are here at Macalester, what we want to get out of this experience and how we should go about making the most of our time here.

Don’t forget to watch Caribsplash, Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Kagin Ballroom. There will also be a dance immediately after the show at 10 p.m. in Kagin.