It has been about 2 and a half months since I left my sheltered Raleigh bubble for the potentially more sheltered bubble of Wooster, Ohio. I have spent this time navigating the dichotomy between a liberal college community and an extremely conservative town, and struggling to understand how a community as diverse as the college could exist in a town with such conservative views. It is a foreign concept to me, after experiencing how the diversity at Enloe was encouraged and revered by the community. But I have since realized that the exposure was a privilege, and helped me stay more attuned to the plights of both my community and this country. The frustrations I am feeling with the current political climate of our country have frequently been coupled with feelings of helplessness. There is a frightful increase in violence and abuse that fills the news and our country must stop normalizing these things, and encourage individuals not to simply protect themselves but work towards a greater good for all.
I do not want the narrative of this post to be that the world is broken, but to be that there is an exponential amount of good erupting from the students at Enloe. It seems so far away, although it was only a year ago that I was in the hustle of fundraising and gala planning, brainstorming, counting every coin and dollar. I still get goosebumps when I remember the long hours in Barry’s room making signs and shuffling coin buckets. I have been following the work Stuco is doing for this year, bragging to all my new friends about all the cool events being added to the fundraising, the extremely impressive media efforts, and the compelling blog posts I have been reading. I am proud to have seen this campaign evolve over the years and excited to see how this year and future leadership changes the game. And the good that comes out of each Charity Ball is not the end of the story.
Charity Ball proves time and again that the world is not entirely broken. That there is an infinite amount of hope in the younger generations, and that we know how to utilize our resources to counter the negative political climate. I hope as my time at Wooster continues, I can revitalize the energy I felt during Charity Ball season to inspire our student body to invoke positive change in both the world and the community.
KC Kurz
2016-2017 VP Governing Procedures