If you know me, then you know I love the concept that every unique aspect of the current moment will impact the reality of the future. I talk all the time about how mesmerizing it is that when I wake up in the morning, I never know what the end of my day will be like or where or how or who I’ll end up with. I know, this sounds absolutely terrifying… to think that a step to the left or right, or a thought about this rather than that, may twist, collapse or reform the reality you are currently living in now. To me, it’s the mundane things that interest me most. The smallest, most minuscule decisions that we may never think about are what makes all the difference in our lives. These decisions, the ones that we think are the least important, least controversial, or least pivotal in the strand of our lives are what makes Enloe Charity Ball the gem that it is.
Just this past weekend I was canvassing for donations with a friend as a spur of the moment idea. We had only mentioned it in passing and had acted upon the impulse that morning, so naturally, as the spontaneity of teenage life dictates, I hopped in my car and got on the road. Our canvassing started great, lots of generosity from people while not so much from others, we just loved being able to get out and talk about this cause. I hadn’t noticed that Emma had been wincing during our visits to the homes, and they had only seemed to grow with more intensity. As the darkness encroached on the light that was our work, we arrived at a home where a kind stranger invited us in to speak more in-depth about Enloe Charity Ball, and her own personal life as a traveler. Of course, at the time we didn’t know she was a doctor, or that she cared so deeply for us, but as she spoke Emma suddenly winced over and nearly collapsed! The woman who we had met at first was now introduced as Dr. Linda Bergum, a family physician and a wonderful individual who sprung into action at this moment’s notice. She sat Emma down and began cutting some apples, added some peanut butter in a bowl, and gave the stranger she had only known for ten minutes the same hospitality of a lifelong friend. I could have never imagined that reality. There was so much light, happiness, and care in one individual person. It showed us so much about what Enloe Charity Ball, Student Council, and life is about as a whole rather than the small compartmentalized moments that make them up. All of these things are defined in hindsight by only a simple aspect of reality, whether it be on December 8th, the end of high school, or one day the end of life—these memories and experiences are defined by every action we took or missed and what that meant for the course these endeavors took. We want to see a change in the world, being part of the wave of youth on its way to thinking critically and carefully about what it means to be not only human, but a selfless one at that.
I will never be one that says that our future is some predetermined path that we follow with chains and signs on both sides exclaiming, “STAY ON THIS ONE PATH!” but rather an expanse of roads, both as intricate as they are infinite, towards a place we may only hope to envision. The future is where our choices, hard work and perseverance matter in the scheme of who we were in the past, are now in the present, and will be in the future. The IGNITE program through the Autism Society of North Carolina works on the multitudes of paths that individuals with high functioning autism have never had the opportunity to choose, futures snuffed out by the preconceived notions of another. At the core of IGNITE is the ability to instill in their members the importance and right to choose not only what they want to be, but who they see themselves as in their own uniquely dazzling futures. For me, that is why I am here. The greatest disservice to those we share this world with is the denial of allowing others to be everything they want and more. This often underserved opportunity is what Enloe Charity Ball is working so hard towards this year—a chance for the voiceless to be heard and for those without the opportunity to be themselves to grow and develop into the wonderful people they can be in not only their lives but hopefully, in the lives of others as well.
Devan Wainright
Senior Class President