this story is a little cringe but please forgive me, I was 20 at the time.
In a university course called Perspectives on Environmental Awareness, which was very much an optional elective, one day the professor asked the class: why are you in college? This is not an exaggeration, 29 of 30 students said "to get a good job and make money." I, the lone idiot, said "to make the world a better place."* I think about this all the time, especially as I watch my peers embrace fascism