Freedom Summer 2010 in a little more than a nutshell…

I have always had difficulty writing succinctly.  In high school, three-paragraph assignments turned into three-page marathons, and in expressing warm sentiments to my friends, I somehow managed to fit 4-point handwritten font into every last crevice of a birthday card.  However, given the nature of a blog, I will attempt to reflect on my summer at the Sunflower County Freedom Project in a manner against my natural tendencies.  This, I assure you, will be no easy task.  How on Earth can I possibly summarize an experience that was simply, in every sense of the word, EPIC, in the short confines of an online blog?  Already, my profuse introduction is exceeding the textual limit for such a medium.  Therefore, I will cut the eloquent prose and get on with this reflection.

There are memories, lessons, awe-inspiring moments from this summer that I will carry with me far into the future.  I walked into the LEAD Center on the first day of classes thoroughly terrified at the prospect of having the minds of 25 students in my hands.  At the end of the first week, this fear was confirmed at which point my ineptitudes as a teacher had clearly revealed themselves.  However, as the days went by, I realized just how absolutely, positively incredible the students at the Freedom Project truly are.  I witnessed the students conquer their tough reading assignments and improve their comprehension.  I felt like a proud mama as they showed their true talents at the speech contest, the Math Rap Wars, the Freedom Day performances, and countless other outlets.  And remarkably, I saw myself grow alongside the students.

I have full confidence that the students at the Sunflower County Freedom Project will succeed in whatever future endeavors they embark on.  They are budding artists, poets, inventors, businessmen, journalists, scientists, and most importantly, scholars.  And while this blog has failed in being succinct, my summer certainly did not fail in being one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. Keep up the amazing work, scholars.  You have inspired me more than you can imagine.

- Lexi Wallace, a Robertson Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, interned with the Freedom Project this past summer.  She taught reading, media, and leadership.  She was also the LEAD photographer and resident artist (the mural in the picture is some of her handiwork!).