Yesterday was a pretty amazing, fun, inspiring and exhausting day, and I didn't even skip a class. You might be wondering what I was doing on a school day that was so totally awesome...so I will just tell you.
Yesterday, Oct.24/12 was the first ever We Day Alberta!! What is why day you ask? We Day is a huge event put on for youth across Canada and is Me to We's signature event. Me to We is a branch of Free the Children, which is a non-profit organization started in Canada when Craig Keilburger was just 12 years old. It has grown into this massive organization with the motto of "kids helping kids." Its all about bringing food security, education, clean water and health care to children across the world, with a large portion of its funds being raised and donated by youth across Canada. We Day is all about the youth of the world, and inspiring them to "Be the change." You can't buy a ticket to We Day, you have to earn it through service.
Because I am no longer a youth, I couldn't attend We Day. So, instead, I decided to volunteer, and even better, I signed up to be a Crowd Pumper. On Saturday we had our first training session where we learned the We Day Dance, and our flash mob routine. During our 4 hour Saturday session, we were unknowingly showing the head Crowd Pumpers April and Gabby that we could strut our stuff. So when we had our final training session on Tuesday night, I found out that I had been selected to be on the FLOOR!!!!! Apparently I have dance skills (lolz), but I think it was more like I had a lot of energy and that I dance like nobody is watching me. Non the less, I was given a floor section to pump up right in the first section in front of the stage!!! My job was to make sure everybody was up and dancing, having a good time and getting them to break out of their shell. So basically I had an all day dance party.
It was exhausting with all the cheering and dancing, but also crazy fun and inspiring. Seeing 18,000 youth come together to celebrate each other and be inspired to change the world was simply breath taking. Not to mention seeing Hedley, Shawn Desmen, Lights, Marianis Trench rock it on stage, all the while being inspired by Martin Sheen, Larry King (yes, that is right, the King himself), Marc and Craig Keilburger (Founders of Me to We and Free the Children), Liz Murray (homeless to Harvard) and SPENCER WEST! I even got to high five Marc Keilburger. The day was actually too awesome to really describe, and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of it.
Me to We has just recently added a new volunteer trip to Ghana, and when I saw the video and listened to the talk about I started to cry. I miss Ghana so much, and I think about going back at least six times a day. My mom is lucky enough to be leading a group of high school students there this spring (and gets to go for free!) with EF Tours and Me to We. I am super jealous.
Being a crowd pumper and having chronic pain was a bit of a challenge, every time I jumped and landed it was horrible, but there was so much energy in the room that it didn't even matter. I had a job to do, GET THE CROWD PUMPED UP! So I did it with every ounce of enthusiasm that I had, I even managed to have enough energy left over for class...and by that I mean I only fell a sleep for a few seconds during pharmacology....
Stoked to be part of We Day next year, and maybe sometime in the future figure out a way to get myself back to Ghana.
Yesterday, Oct.24/12 was the first ever We Day Alberta!! What is why day you ask? We Day is a huge event put on for youth across Canada and is Me to We's signature event. Me to We is a branch of Free the Children, which is a non-profit organization started in Canada when Craig Keilburger was just 12 years old. It has grown into this massive organization with the motto of "kids helping kids." Its all about bringing food security, education, clean water and health care to children across the world, with a large portion of its funds being raised and donated by youth across Canada. We Day is all about the youth of the world, and inspiring them to "Be the change." You can't buy a ticket to We Day, you have to earn it through service.
Because I am no longer a youth, I couldn't attend We Day. So, instead, I decided to volunteer, and even better, I signed up to be a Crowd Pumper. On Saturday we had our first training session where we learned the We Day Dance, and our flash mob routine. During our 4 hour Saturday session, we were unknowingly showing the head Crowd Pumpers April and Gabby that we could strut our stuff. So when we had our final training session on Tuesday night, I found out that I had been selected to be on the FLOOR!!!!! Apparently I have dance skills (lolz), but I think it was more like I had a lot of energy and that I dance like nobody is watching me. Non the less, I was given a floor section to pump up right in the first section in front of the stage!!! My job was to make sure everybody was up and dancing, having a good time and getting them to break out of their shell. So basically I had an all day dance party.
It was exhausting with all the cheering and dancing, but also crazy fun and inspiring. Seeing 18,000 youth come together to celebrate each other and be inspired to change the world was simply breath taking. Not to mention seeing Hedley, Shawn Desmen, Lights, Marianis Trench rock it on stage, all the while being inspired by Martin Sheen, Larry King (yes, that is right, the King himself), Marc and Craig Keilburger (Founders of Me to We and Free the Children), Liz Murray (homeless to Harvard) and SPENCER WEST! I even got to high five Marc Keilburger. The day was actually too awesome to really describe, and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of it.
Me to We has just recently added a new volunteer trip to Ghana, and when I saw the video and listened to the talk about I started to cry. I miss Ghana so much, and I think about going back at least six times a day. My mom is lucky enough to be leading a group of high school students there this spring (and gets to go for free!) with EF Tours and Me to We. I am super jealous.
Being a crowd pumper and having chronic pain was a bit of a challenge, every time I jumped and landed it was horrible, but there was so much energy in the room that it didn't even matter. I had a job to do, GET THE CROWD PUMPED UP! So I did it with every ounce of enthusiasm that I had, I even managed to have enough energy left over for class...and by that I mean I only fell a sleep for a few seconds during pharmacology....
Stoked to be part of We Day next year, and maybe sometime in the future figure out a way to get myself back to Ghana.
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| Floor Crowd Pumper Crew, Power of We |
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| My New Besty Amanda |
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| Much Music Booth with some fellow Crowd Pumpers (I'm the one wearing the tie) |
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