Can You Help Me?

After a week and a half of policies and procedures, today was the first time things really got real. We have known each other anywhere from nineteen to twelve to one day so we are still very green in our new relationships. Despite the freshness of our companionship, the campus counselor really pushed us into vulnerability today…and it was so…simple.

The counselor for the Southern Region campus was a Team Leader (just like us!) back nearer the beginning of AmeriCorps NCCC’s existence. He started off his short half-hour bit by telling us that he is still friends with nine of his fellow Team Leaders…17 years later. They have been together through marriages, cancer, child birth, family deaths and celebrations of New Year’s every year since their graduation from the program. And that is because of this program, AmeriCorps NCCC. How beautiful is that?

When people ask the counselor what kind of support the Southern Campus offers their Team Leaders, the counselor usually just says, “The Team Leaders support the Team Leaders.” And because of that…he offered us the necessary reminder that we all need to learn to be vulnerable to one another and ask for help. Some of us have never asked for help.

We went back and forth across the circle and simply said “I’m Shannon. Can you help me?” and let it linger. Silence was the most powerful part of today. For some of us, it was our first time hearing those words come out of our mouths. For others, it was the first time we saw our fellow leaders’ walls come down…even if only for an instant. Who would have thought that any four words could cause such palpable vulnerability? Who could have foreseen the tears and the hugs that resulted from our vulnerability? I feel closer than ever to my team. It’s hard to believe they have only been in my life for twelve days—I love each and every one of them like I’ve known them my whole life. And I hope to.