I think there can be a time and a place for protesting. I can see instances where it is important and can have some real benefit to society. I do think it can be dangerous to adopt a protest mentality, though. By “protest mentality” I mean holding a mindset that is persistently focused on how others are impacting you negatively.

It is easy for all of us to have a protest mentality. I think it is part of human nature. What makes life complicated is that sometimes the impact of others does need to be our focus.

But in many instances in 21st century America, I think it is healthier and more important for us to focus on what we can do for ourselves, how we can live our own lives better, which will actually end up benefiting others in the long run.

Our recent presidents have been polarizing figures that have unwittingly made it very easy to keep our focus on blaming them for our problems. Indeed, presidents Bush, Obama and Trump have done things that we need to pay attention to, but regardless of what they have done, I still believe America offers unprecedented opportunity for personal success through focused hard work.

I’d like to commend the higher education community in Farmville for helping facilitate that personal success.

I recently had a front row seat to see one way Hampden-Sydney College is doing this.

Last week, the IDEAS Competition unfolded over a couple of days at Brown Student Center. The competition, sponsored by the Flemming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was started several years ago by Elliott Professor of Economics and Business Dr. Gregory Dempster. It is designed to give students and recent graduates an opportunity to advance their business ideas and potentially get them funded.

Eighteen young people participated in the competition this year, and their presentations stoked lively and highly beneficial feedback from Dempster and the entrepreneurs he assembled to judge the competition.

I commend the young people for focusing on what they can do for themselves through their business ideas, which, if successful, will benefit not just them but also society.

Titus Mohler is sports editor of The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. His email address is Titus.Mohler@FarmvilleHerald.com.