“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

You see this quote everywhere, from your cousin’s Facebook status, to inspirational memes your grandma sends you on your birthday, to countless arm tattoos. It’s one of those hotly disputed attribution cases — did Malcolm X say it? How about Alexander Hamilton? No, no, it was definitely by Ginger Rogers — and it’s one of those sentences you hear over and over again. It’s engraved in your brain and you’re programmed to treat it as just another cheesy quote sewed onto throw pillows and printed on encouraging Hallmark cards.

Which is unfortunate. Because that quote is a meaningful one that applies to every living person. In fact, “I Stand For…” is a declaration that everyone should be ready to make.

Next week, different student groups, through a movement by the Office of Student Affairs, will be on the Quad all week asking students to write down what they stand for on big cards. This initiative has me thinking about the importance of knowing what you truly have strong stances on — and has me sorting through all my opinions.  

Sound familiar? Well, a couple of months ago, I wrote a column dedicated to “This I Believe” statements. After reflecting on my past “This I Believe” statement — “sharing is caring” — and pondering the things I stood for, I was worried these two life declarations were exactly the same. “This I Believe?” and “I Stand For?” both sound like they mean the same thing. I had become the queen of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” quotes, and I had picked two that were identical. Fantastic.

But after distinguishing my core beliefs from my hard stances, I began to work out the differences between the two. You see, knowing what you believe in is no doubt important. It’s the cornerstone of your life: something that carries you, defines you. It’s your moral name tag. It marks you as a person.

Standing for something is more active and more decisive. It’s what you do; it’s what you fight for. “I Stand For” statements are what people march for, what they get in debates over and what they write columns on. And while what you believe in definitely can link to what you stand for, I would argue that “I Stand Fors” come after the “This I Believes,” the action verb to follow the adjective.

A half a year ago, it took me some time to think about an appropriate “This I Believe” statement. I finally came up with one that branded me as a person. But my problem with “I Stand For” statements were that I had too many. I was indecisive, and I couldn’t pick only one thing I stood for. It’s probably no surprise to anyone that I’m a sucker for all causes: I sometimes shake my head in sadness for kids in poverty. I’m 100 percent for LGBT rights, and I will write about affordable education for all kids until the cows come home. I will always fight against victim-blaming, and not too long ago, I cried when I read DI columnist Melanie Stone’s five-part series on eating disorders. I’m a mess of things that I stand for, and I saw that as a weakness, as if the many things that rile me up would bring me down faster than if I stood for nothing. 

And then I got over that fear. Because although it’s good to have one cornerstone belief that you carry around, there’s nothing wrong with standing for more than one thing. There are so many important causes in the world that need multiple people to give attention to, so it’s only natural that we may stand for multiple things. Caring for a thousand things doesn’t make you weak just like caring for one core thing doesn’t make you any less complex.

Next week, I encourage you to write down one statement, or seven or twenty-two. Because no matter how many words, phrases, declarations and verbs you write on however many cards, the most important thing is that you’re upright on the two feet of your own beliefs. You’re not falling; you’re standing proud.

Tolu is a senior in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].