by Kimberly McNeil, BGSU graduate 2021 and new AWC Detroit member

I have lived through interesting times.  Though sometimes it felt like being cursed, it turned out to be a blessing.   During spring semester 2020, I joined the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) student chapter of AWC.  Then a string of strange events happened.  All of the BGSU AWC officers were graduating and there were only three new members.  I was given the title of Treasurer and we were tasked with keeping our chapter going.  Covid 19 had reached pandemic proportions and we were all remote and uncertain as to how long this would last.

Fall semester 2020 rolled around and I discovered to my dismay that I was the only person showing up for the virtual AWC meetings.  The AWC has a long and proud history at BGSU and I did not want to see it fade away on my watch.  But the normal means of recruiting and interaction were not available to me.

I began a small media campaign using the school’s various student-run social media pages.  With the help of advisor Dr. Rhadika Gajjala, we began pleading with professors to let me post on the school’s official media to help save our chapter.  I wasn’t having much luck engaging students who were struggling with the new remote and socially distanced environment. 

But then a blessing.  My desperate pleas on social media were noticed by Cindy Orlandi, Membership Ambassador, for the AWC Detroit Chapter.  Cindy made my mission her mission.  She sought out Carolyn Jabs, past president of the AWC Santa Barbara chapter who earned her masters at BGSU and coauthored a book Cooperative Wisdom: Bringing People Together When Things Fall Apart with BGSU professor Donald Scherer PhD. Carolyn graciously offered to be our guest speaker at a planned webinar in April.

We decided to expand the idea of our webinar and student recruitment beyond BGSU students to all Northeastern Ohio and Southeastern Michigan students and new grads.  We invited students from several colleges and even had a high school senior express interest. 

The AWC Detroit Chapter displayed all the best qualities we hope for in mentors and proved through their actions the value of finding a supportive tribe of communicators in school, work and life. 

Carolyn altered the focus of her talk from her book to the challenges of living through “interesting times”, and the ennui many of us were suffering after months of semi-isolation.  Carolyn ended her presentation with this inspirational quote:  “This is precisely the time for artists to get to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how civilizations heal.”  -Toni Morrison

I am grateful and blessed to have found my place in the AWC and to have participated in a presentation that might help other students find theirs.  I have graduated now and joined the Detroit chapter and I fully intend to follow in Cindy’s footsteps.  I will continue to look back to the AWC student chapters, the next generation, to offer my help and support and welcome them to the AWC.

Become a member