Reasons For Hope
Twelve years ago, two friends invited me to join the Charlotte Advisory Board (CAB) of a non-profit organization that I knew almost nothing about. North Carolina Outward Bound School (NCOBS) was established in 1967. The mission is a simple one, “To change lives through challenge and discovery.”
I had never served on a board or been on course with Outward Bound School, so in order to better understand how NCOBS impacted students, educators, and veterans, I met them on the mountain. Initially, it was just me and Amanda, the local director. She did the interviewing and I did the sloppy audio/video work.
We met the students at base camp, just as they finished Charlotte Unity Project, a diverse group of 48 high school students from 4 Charlotte high schools on a 7-day wilderness excursion. These were students who did not congregate in the cafeteria. They were offered scholarships based on guidance from advisors in each school.
We put the camera I’d borrowed from a friend on a tripod, set up a collapsible camping chair and, as darkness began to fall, asked each student a list of questions that I’d prepared in advance. Their responses blew me away. Regardless of gender, race or anything else, the impact was immediate and across the board. Through nightly campfire conversations about social justice issues, these students now understood that they had way more in common with each other than they had differences. And, they were determined to return to school with their respective Unity Clubs and share that knowledge through projects and events on campus.
Fortunately, my friend Karl was able to use these clips and turn it into our very first Charlotte Unity Project video. What it lacked in polish, it made up for in understanding and discovery, because one student in particular jumped off the screen and became an intern the next year. Her name is Alexys and she has been a godsend for the organization ever since.
Next up was an educators’ course with the help of my friend Briana, an intern at WFAE at the time. Armed with better equipment and a greater appreciation of sound and lighting, this course required a moderate hike up to a rock face. I quickly realized that doing initial interviews at the bottom of the wall was fine, but it wasn’t the most interesting or flattering perspective for “action shots.” I’ve always enjoyed rock climbing, so I was able to quickly clamber to the top and capture each teacher’s ascent and interview them as got to the summit. Just as we finished interviews, a thunderstorm swept in and we all double-timed down the hill. Not only had we created our first educators’ video, we met a future superstar for the organization. Melissa, one of the teachers was positively transformed by her experience. Soon thereafter, she became a CAB member, then CAB chair and, eventually, a full-time employee in Charlotte.
The next video was our best. Veterans’ course was extraordinary. Specialized instructors work with returning vets from every branch of the military to help them re-acclimate to civilian life. Briana and I met the veterans at the ropes course, after they had been on course for several days. It was clear that the emotionally-charged campfire conversations had more impact than the physical challenges. In one interview after another, these men and women expressed appreciation for how instructors allowed them to share as much or as little as they wanted and unburden themselves to the only people on earth who could relate to their combat experiences.
Since then, I stopped leaning so hard on friends who have skills and equipment I don’t possess. Instead, I started dragging media professionals up the hill. No offense to my dear friends who pitched in with their videography services, but production quality has improved dramatically. As has the exposure for NCOBS. So much so that we are currently forward-funded for veterans and student courses.
I almost left CAB a few years ago, as Charlotte Unity Project was on the chopping block. Experiences with this diverse group of students were my driving force. They restored my faith in society. Even before going on course, it was obvious that these young people had many fewer prejudices and genuinely accepted each other regardless of their differences. Each passing video was positive reinforcement that we, as a society, were going to be okay. This generation was going to fix what previous generations had not. They were going to work together to provide solutions for social injustice and tackle important gender and racial issues that still remain. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed, Unity has continued and every summer since we have had the pleasure of meeting students as they board the bus up to base camp. We met them up there on course, and interviewed them upon their return. It’s one of the great joys of my life, but it’s not going to happen this summer. Sadly, because of COVID-19 concerns, we have cancelled all our courses this season.
Regardless, the CAB continues to mentor high school students, build awareness of NCOBS programs, and raise funds for full scholarships for next summer’s courses. Why? Because doing so gives us hope. In these high school students, we see the possibility of a brighter, kinder, more understanding society. In these educators, we see men and women who are not working to get rich or famous, but to prepare the next generation to think for themselves and avoid the mistakes we made. The veterans I met reinforced the notion that the freedom we enjoy isn’t free. These men and women all paid a price for their duties oversees. Helping them heal and rejoin society is a genuine privilege.
As a result of cancelling courses, NCOBS abruptly lost 95% of its revenue and is going to be a smaller organization next year. Hopefully, a leaner, nimbler version of itself. Our motto, “To serve, to strive and not to yield” is from Alfred Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses.” So, we will not yield, we will strive, and we’ll continue to serve.
If you’d like to see firsthand, some of the positive steps being taken to develop unity in our youth, I invite you to get involved. Visit www.ncobs.org or watch this short video that my colleague Jason and I produced when we were both working for WTVI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV5mo_i7Uw4&feature=youtu.be.
Come to our next annual event and consider joining the CAB. We’re always looking to get more people involved to work toward making Charlotte a better place to live, work and raise our families. Like most things, you get out of it exactly what you put into it, maybe even a little more. In my case, this work gives me hope. Hope that by working together toward common goals, communicating and really getting to know each other, we can learn to always treat one another with kindness and respect regardless of whatever differences we may have. Because, now more than ever, this is what society needs most. #Unity #Hope