A Year Later

bout a year ago, on an excavation of College Track history, I accessed one of the first staff members to see how deeply ingrained some of historical practices were. By the end of the meeting I had found someone who was totally willing to mentor and collaborate with me. I remember leaving that brunch by the ocean with this sense of "Oh wow, some people are just good." and ever grateful that someone showed me a personal map.

A year later I sit down with the same young woman, I'm in a completely different place in life. It was great to bounce ideas off of her and get her perspective. She is truly a pioneer in self-care for women of color. It was that same crazy feeling of wow, someone gets it.

She said some things today that were incredibly flattering but ultimately scary, haha. She said she was proud of the place I was in, that I would have never made it in the situation I had been in personally and professionally a year ago. She said that it was a turning point for me and that it was important because I'm the kind of person that makes change at the level that makes it into history books. That I had made indelible impressions on the lives of my students and that she was happy I chose to show myself more love. It was necessary to get to the place I am routed for.

So ya, scary. She impressed on me the seriousness of release and fun. And we both summed it up with a declaration of having a lot of work to do to change the world around us. Such a trip. Oh the healer and the change maker, just such interesting ways of being.