The Beginning: A white kid goes to DC

Two months ago I found myself trying to figure out exactly what to bring with me as I moved out of my parents house after graduating from college. I packed the bare necessities, which squeezed into a carry-on suitcase and a backpack. My possessions consisted of enough clothes for two weeks, including my beloved flannel, my laptop, various toiletries, and an eclectic collection of books — a Bible, Søren Kierkegaard’s Works of Love, The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien, SJ, and two books of poetry by Mary Oliver. I left the comfort of my home to embrace ambiguity because I have been called to serve as a Jesuit Volunteer.

I was heading to Washington D.C. to begin my year of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC), an organization that coordinates year of service opportunities for recent college graduates. The JVC prides itself on four values, spirituality, community, social justice, and simple living. Each Jesuit Volunteer, or JV, lives in community with fellow JVs and works at an organization that advances the mission of the JVC.

I was placed with the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY), an organization that coordinates, facilitates, and supports efforts to sentence our youth in an age-appropriate manner, with a focus on abolishing life without parole sentences for children. I am the Outreach Coordinator which means I am responsible for answering all the mail from incarcerated folks, as well as fielding questions and requests from family members.

I am extraordinarily fortunate to be working with the Campaign because contrary to what one might think, I have absolutely no experience with criminal justice reform work. In fact, my degree is in the relatively unrelated field of chemistry.

I grew up in a small town called Upton, which rests in Worcester County, Massachusetts. I wandered to college and found myself attending Saint Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont, a state that captured my heart with its rolling hills clothed in autumnal beauty. Although I majored in chemistry with the hopes of pursuing medical school or a career in academia, I found myself inexplicably pulled towards advocacy work. I joined a group in college called the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC). SGAC ignited my passion for addressing gross inequalities by working to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic that ravages many countries throughout the world. To this day, there are more than 20 million people without adequate access to HIV treatment, a fact that is a travesty to justice in this modern day of medicine and technology.

As I discerned what to pursue after graduation, I chose to delay medical school or higher education for the incredible opportunity the JVC gave me to pursue my passion by engaging in some kind of advocacy or activism. This conviction guided me to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, where I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by a small staff of remarkable drive.

In these first two months, I have been particularly struck by the enormous complexity of race and how it pervades every aspect of my life. My eyes are slowly, far too slowly, being opened to the great injustice of institutional racism that exists in so many individual incidents. I have heard from former classmates about their discomfort at a predominantly white college. I have read a story eerily reminiscent of “To Kill a Mockingbird” in Bryan Stevenson’s jarring “Just Mercy.” And I hear stories each day from people who have felt the affect of inherent racial attitudes most acutely — those locked away in prison for far, far too long.

I am coming to terms with the reality of the world I live in. It is messy, and I often feel as if I am flailing through it all, unsure of what the next step is, but sure that I must stake that step all the same. I am left somewhat disturbed wondering how I made it through four years of college without having to honestly address race. More than anything, I know that there is nothing else to do but embrace the ambiguity, wherever it might lead me.