Imagine if you could suspend your disbelief to take any narrative to the limits of your imagination. If you could design the atmosphere of your setting, or declare yourself any creature possible. Where do you think this freedom will take you? This is what I asked myself when going over the basics of Dungeons and Dragons at IGNITE Raleigh.
During that Friday Fun Night, I stood in the lobby of IGNITE with my peers eager to begin a night filled with cordial competition with our new friends at the center. As we set out an array of board games across the tables, Trisha asked everyone if we would like to take part in character development for D&D. Having no idea what this meant, I volunteered to participate just out of curiosity. I sat with Sarah, Sam, and Makayla at a table with several playbooks spread across. I realized we were playing Dungeons and Dragons: a game which I had only heard of through television.
Each player was handed a blank template and a pencil, and with these objects we could make ourselves into any character with any background, race, and class of our choosing. My eyes scanned the playbook frantically to piece together the most unique character I could think of. Scared of breaking the rules, I repeatedly asked: “is this allowed?” What Sarah, the dungeon master, told me was not to think of the rules as limitations but rather as guidelines. So for the rest of the night, we sat in the lobby munching on popcorn as we laughed over the variety of obscure character combinations we thought of — prepping for our game that would begin at the next Friday Fun Night.
To place it in the simplest terms, the main objective of Dungeons and Dragons is to tell a story, and that is exactly what Enloe Charity Ball has been doing since its creation. Providing students the opportunity to shape our community for the better, and work first hand in creating a narrative restricted only by the boundaries of our imagination. Whether that be in raising money, awareness, or volunteering, there are no limits to what we can do to impact our community.
This year, with a goal of $200,000, we are not only empowering IGNITE’s newest center in Raleigh but also alleviating the limitations placed on individuals with autism. With 1 in 3 young adults with autism having no college education or paid job experience upon graduating high school —how can we sit back and not challenge this narrative? Without a paper, pencil, or playbook — how will you take charge of this story, and turn the endless possibilities of your imagination into a reality?
Razaan Abnowf
Executive Outreach Officer
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