Onward

I am not running for city council. The past three days at Camp Wama-something-near-Winthrope-acha for the Onward camping trip has been an amazing experience. I am truly in a new family of sorts. A new community of about fifty people, and I know most of their names. We worked together, gained trust, had amazing conversations, and got to know everyone.

The commitment to this partnership for success in college will require me to give more than I was planning to. Onward has added the sense of wanting to be there to help people, which no amount of planning of the clock can adjust for. I had originally factored in travel, classes, and homework. I had disregarded the community I was going to be in and knowing what I do now has changed my priorities.

It is excellent to be in a group of people with the same goal. Don't get me wrong, our majors are as diverse as our names but our goal is to graduate. We know that without support we will not get there, and we know that if we do not provide that support to each other we will most likely not succeed this time through. I want to be part of that support which will consume time that can not be planned for. A lunch could become a great discussion, waiting for the bus could become a moment to help tutor someone making you take a later bus. Whether you are the tutor or the stydent, your time, your plans are changed by the need for support.

We all, for the most part, got along. A few decisions caused some concern over the possible outcomes for two people in particular, but we still recognize boundaries and know their decision is theirs and we need to let them face those results. It was an ultimate community of learners all knowing what the other person was going through.

With this new community comes a necessary commitment to let nothing get in the way. City council would not have college get in the way, and college should not have city council get in the way. It is just too soon for me to enter into public office while I have the necessary task of supporting my fellow Onward classmates, and other people on campus as well, on the table.