September 18th 2018
One of the first students that I met when I started with UrbanTrekkers was a rising senior named Johnani. The second I met him I could tell that he was a fireball of energy. Every day Johnani was off work, he was at UrbanPromise. Usually with someone from the Trekkers office. No matter the task, no matter what was going on, he was always there to lend a helping hand. He is a jokester too, even when his timing may not be the most appropriate.
I noticed several students like Johnani in my first few weeks here. There were handful of students that always seemed to be around; even if they had no real reason to be. It felt like there was some sort of magnet at Urban that kept people around.
Since Johnani was always hanging in the Trekker office, I was able to spend a lot of time with him throughout the summer. I had the chance to spend some more time with him when he decided to be a part of our Outdoor Leadership Training and New Student Orientation at Hickory Run State Park a few weeks ago.
During our five days camping in Hickory Run State Park with Johnani and the 7 other student leaders, we spent a lot of time discussing the meaning of community, the communities we are a part of, and the reasons those communities feel safe to us. We spent hours on the trail, on bikes, and around the campfire together. We made a little home in the woods for ourselves where we could crack jokes, laugh, and spend time in reflection. Our reflection times revolved around community, and they served as a time to prepare for New Student Orientation. Kris even took notes on what each student was saying about community and the community that exists at UrbanPromise. Later, when we were prepping for the new students, Kris would remind each student of what they had said so that they would have it down when they were later asked to share.
Throughout most of our rehearsals, Johnani did not seem like he was taking anything seriously. His responses always came off as joke-filled, but with a little bit of truth in them. When the new students showed up and it came time for our student leadership team to share their definition of community, they were having a hard time recalling their previous answers. “Can you tell everybody what you said the other day,” Kris kept saying as he tried to nudge students along. His nudges were helpful, but none of the responses seemed quite as genuine as I had hoped.
Then it came around to Johnani, and I must say that I was a little bit nervous. But when he started speaking, you could feel the authenticity in his voice. He carried on with the most beautiful and genuine sentiment, and he finished with “For me, Urban is a family.” I could feel the chills going up and down my arms, and for some reason the whole campfire seemed to go silent. “You’re about to make me cry over here!” Hope, one of our other student leaders, shouted from across the campfire.
That was the moment I realized exactly why Johnani is always hanging around Urban. It made me understand why the students were having such a hard time explaining the community that we have at UrbanPromise and in UrbanTrekkers. It can be hard to define something when the definition goes beyond words. UrbanPromise is more than just a community. It is a family. And when the new students started school last week, they weren’t joining just another community. They were becoming part of a family.
Kevin Gassaway
Professional Intern (July 2018-June 2019)
UrbanTrekkers