Again, we rise! When I think of this year's retreat at Rocky Gap, I think of the poem by Maya Angelou:
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
As a team, the LIONS conquered some fears and expelled anxieties as we overcame one feat after another. We leaped into action and assisted each other to become strong in our academic pursuits as well as in our community team building activities.
I am once again thankful to PROMISE, Dr. Tull, Dr. Carter and everyone involved for making this event more memorable year after year.
I will forever be grateful for the experience and the love we all share as unique people bonding together for a common cause. I learned so much from the 'candy dish' activity I experience with my colleagues. I will NEVER forget the 'candy dish' as it spoke to the value of graduate school resources and how we must learn to 'share' these resources. I will use the 'candy dish' activity when I teach undergrads the importance of teamwork in the future.
Again, we have risen to the cause and we have gained new heights and insights. It pains my heart that new students may not get to enjoy a PROMISE retreat in 2011. We need to contact our senators and state representatives to let them know they need to increase, not decrease funding to PROMISE.
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