A lot of things. That's why I'm a columnist. ,”You know what really grinds my gears?

A lot of things. That's why I'm a columnist. Lately, it's the "h" key on my laptop that only works every other time I tap it. Other dishonorable mentions are doing laundry, assignments with deadlines before class and the toilet in my apartment that's leaking from its base.

I try not to rant and rave (at least not without facts and a healthy dose of snarky rhetoric), but in this job, my office chair is permanently fixed atop a high horse from whence I critique the world below. A Viewpoints columnist like myself has some freedom of opinion, but my true passion as a news reporter doesn't lend itself to editorializing, despite what countless media critics say. After thoroughly researching a story, gathering background information, contacting sources from many perspectives on an issue and fact-checking every word, it can be so frustrating to be objective when one side clearly seems the right one. To maintain credibility, it's a news reporter's sacred and necessary duty to let the facts do all the talking.

But this week at Marquette is special: We get to do something about it. Or at least we can learn more about the issues and get fired up to start finding solutions.

Mission Week is one of several things that set Marquette's identity apart from other schools. It reminds us that when we chose Marquette, we chose an education that calls us to serve, to lead, to change. College isn't all about theory and learning — the good stuff is about action.

Work is an integral part of life. In the crappy job market we're about to belly flop into, it seems so all-important to build professional experience, to earn the awards, to master the materials and to polish the skills. But there are needs in the world that require attention, whether or not you have a degree in the field. Important, too, is the understanding that our careers should be as servants, whether we be CPAs or RNs or professors or stay-at-home dads.

Be proud that Marquette is not stingy on the speakers, either. Today's keynote is Dr. Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Prize-winner who speaks through an interpreter and was in danger of not showing up because she had been placed under house arrest for speaking out for human rights in her country, Iran.

However, I must admit: the theme "iAct: Consequences of Faith" is really, thoroughly stupid.

We may be pawns of tech culture, but we're not so empty-headed or so self-centered that we need to be drawn to the events simply by adding a lowercase "i" in front of a three-letter word. We don't need a pseudo-hip title to be convinced the week is worthwhile.

I went to a weeknight Mass at Joan of Arc this week for the first time in a long time. It's really amazing what you can have time for when you make it a priority, and more astounding to realize that all the things you fill your day up with aren't what make you feel most productive. Or most fulfilled.

Make time to watch the simulcast in the AMU of Dr. Ebadi's speech. Take a few minutes to reevaluate what all your hard work is really amounting to. And since it's Mission Week, call your mom, she probably misses you.

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