New Opportunities, New Faces: How TableTalk Has Changed the High School Experience
Last year, Olivia Tucker introduced me to a new group she was starting at Episcopal High School called TableTalk. She said that she was trying to connect more people on campus through different activities like CampusCouches. As this was something I had wanted to do since the beginning of my freshman year, I was on board immediately, but I never knew it would grow nearly as much as it has since. Considering who Olivia is, I really shouldn’t have been surprised, but she transformed a seemingly small club into a massive organization on campus that connects people from all walks of life to others — even to other TT groups around the country.
My first experience with TT was helping facilitate a CampusCouches event in my sophomore year. I was pretty nervous going in, thinking no one would want to sit down and talk, or I would have no clue what to say if someone did sit down, or people would start a conversation I wasn’t involved in and I would have to sit there awkwardly pretending I knew what was going on. Luckily none of that happened, nor has that happened any time I’ve facilitated a TT event. Since then, I’ve helped facilitate at every CampusCouches event, as well as the two catered dinners TT has hosted (the Chick-Fil-A was an added bonus). By far, my most memorable TT event was the most recent catered dinner.
At this dinner, we had an invited guest, Mr. Jose Carrion and his wife, parents of Valeria Carrion ’18. Mr. Carrion spoke briefly about his job as a leading financial advisor for Puerto Rico, and we had about 15 minutes to ask him questions about what he does, why he does it, and how disasters like Hurricane Maria factor into his job.
What made the evening so memorable wasn’t Mr. Carrion’s talk or the Q&A with him, but rather the discussion following it.
After his talk, we split into groups by table and discussed several different topics surrounding LatinX rights and the devastation in Puerto Rico. We discussed the role of media in covering topics like Maria, and whether mass publicization of these events was positive or negative. One of our guiding discussion questions was, “Should the media publicize these events, and to what extent?” I was thoroughly surprised when Mr. Carrion, who was at our table at the time we were discussing this question, immediately said “No.” I had been under the impression that he would say it was necessary for the media to provide coverage of the event to convince people to donate money, but he felt virtually the exact opposite, saying that he believed that if the media chose to publicize a disaster like Maria, it would devalue the true impact of the natural disaster and make people believe that rapid change was happening when they chose to add $5 to their church’s donation pile. He said that the media showed Maria’s devastation at first, then stopped completely after a few days, when most of Puerto Rico didn’t have power or clean water for months. This was a completely different perspective that I had never heard before, and I gathered from the others at the table that they hadn’t really considered that idea either.
My favorite thing about TableTalk isn’t that I get to put a new leadership title on my resume or that I get free Chick-Fil-A (I mean it’s not a bad thing but it’s not the main point).
My favorite thing is that I hear new stories and new experiences every time.
I only genuinely know a few people on this campus, and TT gives me the perfect chance to increase that list, whether it’s forming new connections with people I don’t see often or deepening connections with people I do. I’ve loved every minute of every TT experience I’ve had, and I know everyone else will too. Come join the conversaTTion!
