Day 9 of the Rest of Our Lives

I have to be honest: as thrilled and honored as I was to be accepted into the William Winter Summer Youth Institute, I had no idea what we were going to be doing. Was it going to be a fancy summer camp at a college campus? Were we going to get enough snacks to last us a week and a half? But, of course, I was excited to do something different that offered to change my outlook on different issues I deal with everyday. When I firstt walked through the door, I was a bit late, so I ran to my dorm and droppedmy things off, quickly discovering the identity of my roommate by the shoes laying around the floor. Pretty satisfied to be rooming with my best friend, the next challenge was to eat my first meal with people I've never met in my life. There, I saw one of my closest friends, Julie, and was introduced to Dash, Phennicia, and Kenyon (GROUP AWESOME!!). I quickly realized that, we were all so different, but we were all brought together by our desperate need to learn about, and help, our communities.
This small anecdote easily describes my 10 days at Ole Miss. Being scared, feeling helpless, and overwhelmed was only half of it. The sense of community, new friends, and endless Skyping is the end product.
It's difficult to describe every day here without writing a novel or scripting a movie. So many things happened that many would only expect from a fabulous, dramatic TV show. From gang history to disagreements among communities, we all begin to see what we really want out of our individual lives.
I have learned too many things in the social crash course I came to participate in. Becoming something bigger than ourselves is one of the main reasons why I'm sniffing as I'm typing this. Being shameless and standing up for your beliefs is very brave, and I believe that every person in our welcome circle has the potential to be the next history hero.