On Tuesday night, we had a fundraiser at Baja Fresh attract a whopping dozen person turnout. Last night, our club on campus hosted the Invisible Children roadie team for a big night – aiming for our biggest screening ever. Sure of a couple dozen attendees and hoping for fifty-plus, I took a bit of a hit when we waited an extra twenty minutes and still only attracted an audience of seven.

Afterwords, I got subsequent morale-boosts first from the roadies, then Alli and Kevin, and of course Kim.  Bad days in activism always force me to take a look at why I do the things I do.  I’ve always been overly idealistic and have been determined to turn my ideals into a reality. I’ve always wanted to make an impact and help people. That’s why I buddied up with my dad whenever he went to Rotary service projects. That’s why I want to teach. Invisible Children was the first thing that I did that made me feel a part of a community that did something.

Most groups I sought out didn’t really show a return that made me feel like I was helping. And whenever I got that feeling from Rotary projects, I didn’t quite feel a part of the community of middle-aged moderately-wealthy business-owners. But with Invisible Children I felt like I was an integral part of a youth movement that would help people who not only needed it but wanted it.

Since then, I’ve had plenty of ups and down. The ups have been great and the downs have been, well, pretty down. But no matter what I feel like I’m making a difference, however small, and I know I’ve got friends trying with me and I know I have the support I need (yes, Kim, that’s you!) to keep going.  So, after a few consecutive downs, I’m ready to bounce back with some resilience.