When I was a teenager and dreamed of the things I would do in my
twenties I envisioned traveling, getting married, finishing college, making
first time adult purchases like buying a house, a car and of course would be on my way to financial stability. I've watched as nearly
every friend I grew up or graduated high school with has gotten engaged,
married, or is expecting their first or second
child. If you know me, one would expect that I would have gone down a very
“normal” path- with a splash of adventure thrown in. What I didn’t prepare
for was the plan God had for my life- the truly extraordinary journey that lay
ahead.
I have none of
those things I listed above. At twenty six I am most definitely off the normal track I
expected my life to follow. As a fourteen year old, in the midst of my parent’s
chaotic divorce, this teen signed up for a study on the Holocaust for an
entire summer with the University of South Florida. I spent the entire summer
learning of mass genocide- of injustice- which looking back was a pretty
remarkable subject to spend my summer researching since I was being exposed to
the tragic injustice that existed within my own world. Years later I can now
see that those few months of learning truth about global injustice and human
suffering combined with learning about the father I thought I had, started me
down a path that led to the journey I am currently on. As a nineteen year old college freshman I
watched Invisible Children’s Rough Cut.
Little did I know that five years later the stories and movement behind that documentary would change my life.
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| Young Activists march through the streets of DC for peace |
Do you ever look back and think of how certain moments or decisions
transformed the path you were on? I’ve had those moments many times in 2012.
There were so many things that have led me to be apart of Invisible Children
and working to end the LRA’s atrocities. This past weekend the people I have
worked hard alongside of for two years pulled off an event of not only historical
proportions but extraordinary impact. Thousands of young people joined us in
Washington D.C. for an event called MOVE:DC we invited world leaders and representatives
from the EU, AU, UN, ICC, US, CAR, DR Congo, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan to
attend the first ever Global Summit on
the LRA. We
marched through the streets of Washington D.C. joined by thousands of young people,
a sea of red- filled with joy, hope and linked together by a common dream of
justice. We merged cultures with thousands and made true the belief that our
universal language is dance.
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| Global Dance Night |
Being a part of facilitating the event there
were few moments to stop and experience what was happening- but when I did stop and take it in I was so unbelievably proud and humbled to be a part of this movement.
I always am.
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| My friends- co workers-sisters |
I work with some of the worlds smartest,
compassionate, dedicated and creative people in the world. People who could be
doing anything with their lives, but they choose to fight on behalf of others.
But this weekend was different. We did it. We pulled it off- and did so on an
extraordinary level. I was able to meet students and teachers from all over the
country that I have been working with for over a year and there are no words
for how much I respect and believe in them. This weekend I met world leaders,
facilitated small events, and
worked alongside the greatest team in the world. This weekend was made for the
courageous and I am honored to be living an unpredictable life. It may not be
the “norm” but I am head over heels in love with it.
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| Truth |
One day I will get married, buy a house/car, have children but when
those things unfold I will be the person I was meant to be- not just the person
I could be.My life will also be full of adventure, big dreams and beautiful friendships I could have ever anticipated. I am just so thankful that my life went off course and that this is the road that met me.
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| MOVE:DC |
