Different

For this blog, I really want to talk about the experience I had after we crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. After we crossed, we all gathered around in a circle and began to talk. We answered questions like “what word would you use to describe today?” and “what are you willing to die for?”. We all went around answering the questions, and people’s answers started to get really deep, and you could tell people were really opening up and letting themselves be vulnerable. It was a moving experience to say the least, and I learned things about life and about the people around me that I had fully realized or that the I hadn’t even known. All the emotions of the day came back to everyone in that moment, and it was really special to see everyone connect. For my word to describe the day, I said “different”. I chose “different” because I know that when I go back to Baltimore after this trip ends I will never be the same. I’m feeling “different” because I understand so much more than I ever have, and I’ve began to realize so much more about humanity. Every single day on this trip I’m overwhelmed with emotion. I’ve felt heartbroken and I’ve felt hope in almost all the places I’ve gone. I say “different” because I feel a tremendous change inside of myself.

Isabel Taylor