Appreciation is a word that can mean many things to different people. For example, I appreciate cookies. I appreciate life. I appreciate you. All of these sentences carry a variety of meanings and sentiments, but what about appreciation for other people’s likes and dislikes?

I am not a huge football fan. My extent and knowledge of football is the ability to cheer for SDSU or any team that somebody tells me to cheer for. During a Super Bowl, I ask a friend who is going to win and that is who I cheer for. While I might not have huge football knowledge, I still have a huge appreciation for it and its fans. While I am at an SDSU football game, I will cheer as loud as avid football fans—even though I might not know what I’m cheering for, I will still cheer.

I am a huge peanut butter fan. Now, I understand that not everyone likes peanut butter and there are even some people who are deathly allergic to it; they don’t have to like it, but they do have to understand that I will continue to eat peanut butter as long as it is still sold in stores. However, I will eat my peanut butter a long distance away from the people who are allergic to it. I am not going to shove peanut butter or anything else I love onto other people, but I am still going to enjoy the things I like.

Something I am extremely passionate about is art and literature. I am an English major, so I love to read and write. Now, I know that English is not something everyone else enjoys or even likes. Many people hate English with a burning passion. I find that sad because I love it, but I understand where they’re coming from. I dislike math and it just doesn’t click with my brain, but I know that math is needed in the world for so many things ranging from calculating a tip at Perkin’s to solving an insane equation. 

On the flip side, I don’t love everything everyone else does, but I will continue to appreciate them and understand that we are different people with different hobbies, interests and backgrounds and that is totally normal.

I will continue to love peanut butter, art and literature. These are things that I (hopefully) will always love and have a passion for. My hope is that as a campus community we respect each other’s different likes and dislikes because, honestly, if we all liked the same things, life would be incredibly boring.

My advice for the week is to be tolerant and understanding of what other people like and don’t like. You may think you don’t like something and then all of a sudden you find something that is incredibly cool that you could have missed out on. Whether you like my advice or not, which is totally in your power (see everything previously talked about in the column), tolerance and appreciation for different things can go a long way.