The summer between my junior and senior year, I was part of a group of teenagers who founded an organization called Student Organized Climate Action Network (SOCAN). We were all frustrated- we understood the urgency of the climate crisis and wanted to do more than recycle and drive less. We recognized there needed to be more done. Over the past year, SOCAN became by pet project. When I started my internship, part of my job was to grow this network and to get it to a point where it didn't need me. As I approach the end of my internship, the pieces of SOCAN are starting to fall into place. It has a core team of dedicated leaders who meet regularly, each responsible for a crucial aspect of running the organization. And I am no longer one of them. Don't get me wrong, I go to all the meetings. And I act as a support for any of the core team members, teaching and learning from each other. But the decision making is no longer in my hands, and I find that scary. I know that for SOCAN to succeed I need to let other people be in charge of it- I'm graduating and leaving soon.
I think that is the hardest part of the work I want to do in my life. It involves spending a lot of time with people, training and coaching and bonding, and then letting them go and hoping they continue working for climate justice, in some form.
I was talking with a friend the other day, and we both agreed that our main goal in life was to help people, and to make the world at least a little bit better. My friend said he wanted to be a doctor, that the physical act of healing people was what he wanted. And I understand that desire to witness the change you are making, but I think I want to do it a little differently. I think the way I want to change the world involves a lot of trust in people, and many leaps of faith. I want to build a movement of people who care about climate change very deeply, and I can act as a tool for them to do so, but the energy to do so must come from them. And I trust that many will be able to.
I think that is the hardest part of the work I want to do in my life. It involves spending a lot of time with people, training and coaching and bonding, and then letting them go and hoping they continue working for climate justice, in some form.
I was talking with a friend the other day, and we both agreed that our main goal in life was to help people, and to make the world at least a little bit better. My friend said he wanted to be a doctor, that the physical act of healing people was what he wanted. And I understand that desire to witness the change you are making, but I think I want to do it a little differently. I think the way I want to change the world involves a lot of trust in people, and many leaps of faith. I want to build a movement of people who care about climate change very deeply, and I can act as a tool for them to do so, but the energy to do so must come from them. And I trust that many will be able to.