The Work: Making It Against All Odds

So swamped that I forgot to post my thoughts about some passages that stuck out to me in The Work. I already got to speak on this quote at our dinner:

"Service simply means we embrace the possibility of living for more than ourselves."

But another thing said within the first chapter resonated with me.

"...it can be crippling to gaze around a room where no one looks like you and still muster the nerve to act like you're entitled to everything on offer. I also learned...that sometimes you feel like you're trying to participate in a system that's designed to exclude you or people like you. But you've managed to make it into the room...chances are that generations of people sacrificed for you to be there... And in taking advantage of the resources and opportunities  that are available to us, we can also transform their intent and impact."

This has been my experience since orientation day at UMD. It made me uncomfortable to see myself as the only black person in the room and feeling completely out of place. Every class I entered gave me the same feeling. I would hide the fact that I have a full ride to UMD because I don't like to flaunt it and I thought people would assume that I only received it because of my skin color and not the fact that I actually deserve it and worked hard for it. They don't understand that you can't get the scholarship if you can't get into the school. But recently I haven't been ashamed about it. I've come to realize that I'm getting opportunities that would not be possible if not for the black people who fought for themselves and future generations. And I'm here to prove people wrong. I'm here to prove that I can do anything that I set my mind to even if someone tries to tell me and my people that we can't.

As a camp counselor I believe that so many of the campers will 'make it into the room'. Despite what has happened or will happen they will get there. A lot of them have lost the will to learn because people have actively supported the system that was designed to exclude children of color. These campers have the power and the tenacity to prove many wrong. I think that exposing them to the opportunities that are out in the world will aid them on making their way into the room. They'll get there.