A Walk to Remember

This is a tough one to write...

Last night we had the Year End Dinner for our program. The idea behind the night is to invite new and old friends together to celebrate the year that we have completed. The night can be as insignificant or significant as you want it to be. And in typical 2010-2011 JIPster fashion we wanted it to be memorable.

Our program directors gave us permission to craft the dinner agenda in a way that allowed who we were as a group (a collective unit) to be conveyed. We tweaked the format, took tight precautions with timing, inserted some personal memories via photos, gave our own thank you's, and chose the participants for the evening. Oh yea and we all read a speech :)   The speech is called Presentation of Learning and Service and it makes up the bulk of the program. There is no way to duplicate the way our speeches changed the atmosphere of the room last night. We didn't discuss or share our speeches prior to that night, but again in typical 2010-2011 JIPster fashion they all flowed together as if we had planned it. I'll post my own speech in a separate blog post and once the video becomes available I'll provide a link to everyone else's speech.

One feeling that I can't shake is how my commitment to the program can't end with this year. What the 8 of us formed cannot be replicated, duplicated, or ever re-created at any point in our lives. We can come together for reunions and will definitely stay in touch but we all know that "this" can't be "this" again. I'm still struggling with that thought because I know it's true but I'm not ready to accept it yet. However, I have seen with my own eyes how important it is to have supportive and active alumni of the program. The alums that I got to know during the course of the year rescued me from myself, from over committing, and from holding back on the experience. I know I couldn't have gotten through without them.

Today we had to say a lot of good byes and it was really hard. Our eleven month journey of walking together has come to an end. However, as I so fondly say, the best is yet to come.

Susan- thanks for reminding me that there are many ways to be a strong leader
Ebeth- thanks for inspiring me to bring all of who I am to the table
Susannah- thanks for being a role model
Amey- thanks for coming into my life when/how you did
Katie- thanks for helping me set/keep boundaries at work!!
Solita- thanks for sharing my interests

Jim- thanks for the laughter, joy, and handy man work
Christina- thanks for the sports updates, country music chats, and all the invasions of my personal space
Kelsey- thanks for your impersonations and especially your Samuel L. Jackson quote
Holly- thanks for indoctrinating all of us with Sarah Dessen, Nicholas Sparks, Taylor Swift, and hummus
Daniel- thanks for going all the way to Puerto Rico to find my husband
Emily- thanks for the culinary tips and your kind words
Amanda- thanks for having coffee time with me

It's been good walking together with you,
~Adwoa

This could be one of those memories
We want to hold on to, cling to,
one we can’t forget...
What if this was that moment
That chance worth taking
History in the making

-Darius Rucker