It feels like forever ago, when I walked into the haphazardly furnished, oddly polygonal, corner room that belonged to Ms. Schroeder. I didn’t know that at the time it belonged to Ms. Schroeder.
I sat down on the cold, itchy carpet that reminded me of my first-grade morning Circle Time. The room was crowded with whispers like my own with my friends—should we do this? My eyes bounced around the room, noticing friendly faces and foes, and I began to wonder where I fit in.
During my freshman year, the fall election interest meeting was led by nearly-adult peers I had never met. But, I trusted them. I trusted their word when they told me that “everybody makes backpack tags”. I trusted them when they told me that through Student Council, and by effect, Enloe Charity Ball, I would learn, grow, and become a part of a community.
It is very easy to demonstrate ECB’s impact through dollar signs and percentages, showing how my work and our work have uplifted the Enloe community. But what’s much harder to properly convey is ECB’s impact on me, Whitney. From the first interest meeting to today, the lessons I have learned throughout my experience have shaped my approach to leadership, accountability, and organization. Simple interactions have grown into lifelong lessons that can only be taught outside the classroom. I am in constant admiration of my peers and mentors, those who carry such incredible talents, traits, and personalities that I can only begin to model. And, at each ECB event, or in each step to further our purpose, I remember the student leaders who came before me. Those who took the first, and hardest steps towards what ECB has become today.
Now, three years after my first ECB season, Ms. Schroeder shares a two-story room with Mr. Barilich. Certain, warm lessons from the sun seem to be emboldened by the windows that surround the room, filling the vast space above and hinting at a reflection of who I am today. Through Student Council and ECB, I’ve grown my understanding of the world around me, built new connections, and opened myself to unfamiliar spaces. I am filled with ECB lessons, as the new room is filled with light, and I fit into this space. I am illuminated by the community around me, where we learn to trust one another and ourselves.
I am grateful for the light that is Enloe Charity Ball, and to move away from it will be bittersweet. Nevertheless, I will carry the lessons of ECB throughout each new space I explore, imagining and reimagining our future.
Whitney Hall
Clubs and Organizations Officer