I've experienced this a certain amount of times that I can only count on one hand, and for that I am forever grateful.
Do you know what it's like to be in a crowd full of ten thousand people and feel immense love for every single one of them? To pull emotions from the bottom of your heart and let yourself feel. To KNOW you are apart of something bigger then yourself, and allowing even your inner doubts to disappear and get lost in the movement? Nothing but joy comes to mind when I think back to November seventeenth. When I jumped on a bus at one a.m. from New York City to Washington D.C. with some of the greatest people I've ever met. We marched with ten thousand people to show the world that empathy isn't dead, that people care. Deeply.
That a generation can and will make a difference, and have the drive to stop at nothing. That we can put aside our own inner issues and self pities to wake up and realize that there aren't children who have the privilege like us to waste away our lives on Facebook and social media websites. That even at seventeen years old, we can change the course of history.
Everyone should be a person who believes basic human rights for all is a priority.
Before I found out about Invisible Children, before I attended their Fourth Estate Conference in 2010, before I wrote my college essay on them, before I attended MOVE:DC... Before all of this, I was Victoria.
I was Victoria who was so wrapped up in issues of her own that she didn't realize the bigger picture. So wrapped up in issues that I today can say where hardly of as much of an importance compared to the issues that children being abducted from their homes by a rebel group had to deal with.
Today, I am still Victoria. That little girl who was forced to grow up and learn a lot quicker then most within me will never die. But today, I am also Victoria, Victoria who knows what her purpose in life is. Victoria who wants to make a difference. Victoria who wants to leave her mark on the world.
Not Victoria who hid in her room every night and cried herself to sleep. Not Victoria who let a man take advantage of her. Not Victoria who didn't fight for what she thought was right.
Because honestly, I'm too bloody strong for that.
When I found out about the organization Invisible Children, it was like someone said directly to me, "Hey you, yes you, YOU can do something about this. YOU can change the course of history."
So I did.
I will forever be thankful, forever grateful, that this organization doesn't just ask for your money and says 'goodbye.' No, they expect you work with them every step of the way. They ask you to get involved, they ask you to MOVE. They showed me I was worth more, that I can make someone's life worth more.
Thank you, Invisible Children, for your tenacious hope.
Before I found out about Invisible Children, before I attended their Fourth Estate Conference in 2010, before I wrote my college essay on them, before I attended MOVE:DC... Before all of this, I was Victoria.
I was Victoria who was so wrapped up in issues of her own that she didn't realize the bigger picture. So wrapped up in issues that I today can say where hardly of as much of an importance compared to the issues that children being abducted from their homes by a rebel group had to deal with.
Today, I am still Victoria. That little girl who was forced to grow up and learn a lot quicker then most within me will never die. But today, I am also Victoria, Victoria who knows what her purpose in life is. Victoria who wants to make a difference. Victoria who wants to leave her mark on the world.
Not Victoria who hid in her room every night and cried herself to sleep. Not Victoria who let a man take advantage of her. Not Victoria who didn't fight for what she thought was right.
Because honestly, I'm too bloody strong for that.
When I found out about the organization Invisible Children, it was like someone said directly to me, "Hey you, yes you, YOU can do something about this. YOU can change the course of history."
So I did.
I will forever be thankful, forever grateful, that this organization doesn't just ask for your money and says 'goodbye.' No, they expect you work with them every step of the way. They ask you to get involved, they ask you to MOVE. They showed me I was worth more, that I can make someone's life worth more.
Thank you, Invisible Children, for your tenacious hope.
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