It is Friday. It has been Autumn for exactly one month and eighteen days; today is one of those days that feels particularly so. Cool wind flows through Neighbor to Neighbor’s headquarters in Southeast Raleigh as I feel eagerness emanate from my peers. We are here to provide some care and nourishment to their important facilities. 

I am tasked to clean Neighbor to Neighbor’s multipurpose main building, where they tutor underserved students in the Raleigh community. I work to reorganize the desks, take the trash out, and pot flowers by the entrance of the building, all while accompanied by the director of the beneficiary and some underclassmen on council — all whom I had not known prior to this year. As we continue to help each other out, I feel the barriers between us falling, and by the end of our volunteering session, I see these people as more than fellow council members. We are friends, siblings, neighbors, all connected by the common goal of helping our community to the highest degree.

Although categorical divisions describe us, they do not define us. Our Student Council, and Enloe Charity Ball as a whole, is more of a community than a council restricted by boundaries of grade, committee, or clique. What we do is a driving force in our relationships, shaping us to create meaningful relationships with our community.

Jiya Shu Bhure