A Year in Review

June 2010:

After finally getting my license (at the age of 22), I made the 8 hour drive from my hometown to Wilmington, Ohio to begin my year as an AmeriCorps* VISTA!

July 2010:

Attended Cincinnati’s Gay Pride parade with the lovely Karay Martin and knew we were going to be great friends!

August 2010:

A fellow VISTA referred me to her landlord about a recent apartment opening. This would end up being my very first Bachelorette pad and site to some incredible memories.

September 2010:

Organized the 2010 Tour de Farm fundraiser. The event was pretty small, but I was proud of myself for managing to pull it off considering my poor event-planning skills. (One thing I can check off my list of possible careers! Ha!)

October 2010:

Participated in Wilmington College’s Mud Volleyball games with my fellow VISTAs. It didn’t take long for it to become my new favorite sport!

November 2010:

With nowhere to go for Thanksgiving, Matt kindly let me tag along to his family’s Thanksgiving. I think this was around the time we realized we were soul siblings :)

December 2010:

SonJane Fest 2010. The night I met many of my new Wilmington friends, and namely, the love of my life.

January 2011:

Filled with lots of fun birthdays and lots of “Define the Relationship” talks with my significant other ;)

February 2011:

Lots of dates, kisses and getting to know my one and only.

March 2011:

A bucket list item gets crossed off: Our trip to Nashville, as well as a trip home to “meet the parents!”

April 2011:

Our birthdays, Jack’s Mannequin and our first “I love you”.

May 2011:

Work was crazy stressful as the growing season was in full swing. My love was there for me every step of the way: preparing meals when I got home, doing laundry that I was too exhausted to attend to and even rototilling a garden or two.

This was also Chuck’s first trip to the Jersey Shore. All it took was a few hours in Cape May for him to fall as deeply in love with the place as I have.

June 2011:

My final days with Grow Food, Grow Hope came to a bittersweet close and Chuck and I began what could be referred to as a long-distance relationship.

July 2011:

After I received my acceptance letter for grad school at Chatham, our lives became a whirlwind of trying to move ourselves out to Pittsburgh on a very short time frame. I’ve never been so blessed as I am currently to have a man who supports and believes in me so much that he’s willing to pick up and move his life so that I may pursue my dreams. That’s what I like to call love.

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I have no idea what the next year has in store for us (it’s not about ‘me’ anymore!). All I can say is, Wilmington has given me one hell of a year, and I can’t wait to see how Pittsburgh measures up! I’ve been so blessed over the last 13 months, and there’s still so much yet to come. Thank you to every person who’s made my Ohio life oh so memorable.

I love you all.

Taking Care of My Own First

As a recent college graduate and soon-to-be graduate student, I get asked frequently what I intend to do with my degree(s) and where I want to work. This is an irksome question for me just because it seems so superficial. It reminds me of the Thanksgiving scene from Across the Universe when Max gets into it with his uncle about what he intends to do with his life and he exclaims across the dining room table, "Why is the question always about what will I do? What will you do? What will he do? Do, do, do, do, do. Why isn't the real question here about who I am?" Who I am has influenced my decision to further my education. It has shaped my career pursuits. But it is not the other way around.

Then there is a second scenario. The scenario where I try to attempt to explain what exactly Food Politics entails. If I am lucky, I am greeted with enthusiasm. If I am relatively fortunate, I will be greeted with polite congratulations with a look that says, "that's a legitimate field of study...?". Most of the time I find myself yammering on as the person stares at me blankly.

In the case of the latter situation, often I will conclude my elevator speech by informing them that it is my hope to one day work for an international hunger relief organization. This is where it really goes downhill for me. I have been told more than once, "you need to take care of your own first." I have not been told this by any heartless, depraved souls. On the contrary, well-meaning and loving people have shared with me this piece of advice, which frankly, hurts me even more.

I am not one to chastise another person's beliefs (at least not openly), but as a follower of Jesus Christ, my allegiance is to the Kingdom of God alone. This allegiance knows no political, cultural or geographical boundaries. I am called as a believer to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ. To clothe the naked, feed the hungry and care for the widow and child. That is who I am.

I am not one to say that poverty is not a serious issue in the United States. Nor will you ever hear me claim that the systems in place in our country to care for the needy are flawless. But for me, the fact of the matter is, those systems exist. If a young mother fears she may not be able to provide for her children, she has options. Our country offers the Women, Infants and Children program. Our government offers its impoverished citizens the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. If a person chooses not to jump through the hoops of the American government, there are food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens in many urban, suburban and rural areas. These programs exist.

For that same young mother in Uganda, if you fear for the well-being of your child, your options are slim to none. Government assistance programs? Ha! Food pantries? Not enough to go around. Even assuming there were a chance you could rely on the kindness of strangers to take you in, or feed your children, think about how you would get there. No way in hell will you have a car. You can't ride a bicycle through the pot hole-filled dirt roads with children in tow. Two options remain: public transportation in the form of a 15-passenger van crammed past it's maximum capacity...or you walk.

There is a stark contrast here. I would never refuse assistance to a hungry child in need in my native country. The fact of the matter is, they don't call it "world hunger" for nothing. However, the soul and spirit within me that defines who I am cries out for me to be a voice for those of the most dire of circumstances. So from now on, when it is suggested of me to "take care of my own first." I will reply, that is exactly what I intend to do.