Ahoy mateys! I am sending bat signals, carrier pigeons near and far, to reach even Neverland’s shining star, and deliver these greetings from our CYC: so, hello! I’m the intern! My name is Annie.
The CYC discovered me, more than the other way around, when I kept finding posters and stories all about town. This past year I volunteered with our middle school group, whose laughter taught me that life is always a hoot. Seeing poems and prose flow from their fingers, I remembered the days when my own voice rang unhindered.
As a kid I would never, not ever, stop flipping the pages, even after mom’s calls of “lights out!” were outrageous. Reading taught me to live, and how to persist, since many a novel meant trouble for a protagonist. I saw firsthand in Goose Girl, House on Mango Street, that the world I lived in was anything but neat. It took more than a spoonful of sugar and pluck to stick up for yourself and the ones that you love.
These days, when I’m not interning or being inspired here, I am studying at GVSU as an English and Writing Major. I thrive on adventures, hence my Spanish minor pursuits, for I’d love to leave the mitten and try on my traveling boots.
The past two summers I farmed the Blue Ridge Mountains, this year at a summer camp, where the kids were joyous fountains. I know my most thrilling feats are always shared, for together we can do things we never dared. Like this June, when me and a gaggle of campers, made pizza so delicious the leftovers scampered. As every ingredient came from our garden, even the cheese was a home-milked bargain! I hope to move to North Carolina, to this magical land, after I graduate this Spring with my diploma in hand.
Now I’ll leave you all be with a quote that inspires, even when my world has moments of haywire, from Andrea Gibson, a spoken word poet, whose words have saved me in many a moment:
“I said to the sun, ‘Tell me about the big bang.’ The sun said, ‘it hurts to become.”
As far as I see it, this is Gibson’s description of how it feels to have your heart expand its mission. This is maybe the scariest way to grow, but also the best, as the CYC knows.