Advocates and Activists

This is the story of a 12 week challenge, a weekly reminder to live with intention and never cease to grow and better understand the person you are. 

Quick background: it's my senior year at Hope College and one of the requirements to graduate is to take a Senior Seminar class, so I enrolled in a class called Advocates and Activists.  Two weeks ago our class met for the first time and Professor Kipp explained to us that we needed to participate in an activist/service project, and at first I thought: easy, I volunteer all the time so I'll fulfill the minimal 15 hours required for this project through one of the volunteer activities I already do... easy enough.  So that was that.  

However, the following Monday our professor really encouraged us to challenge ourselves with this project, to do something outside of our comfort zone and actually take this project as an opportunity, to make it personal.

I knew then that I needed to rethink my project.  I looked back through the syllabus and read the project description again: "I insist only that when it comes to your individual project, you incorporate some sort of service component that involves action in the world."

So... this got me thinking. 

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “do one thing everyday that scares you."  And when I read that quote I hear: "Challenge yourself, push and stretch yourself, take opportunities and grow from new experiences."  

So I am modifying that quote and turning it into my service project: 

I’m doing one thing every week that scares me and I’m inviting others to join me… I will set goals every week for the remainder of the semester to do something that is uncomfortable, foreign, different or difficult.  At the end of each week I will write about the experience.

This challenge is about bettering myself and others. To live with intention.  I encourage you to join me, follow me or support me.