Wednesday, April 30, 2003
There Are Four Lights
~
A salute to all as I leave the SFUO:
As the month of May puts on its face of tulips and raindrops, and wipes it’s eyes for another long summer, I look back upon a year of projects dreamed, friendships born and souvenirs etched. Looking forward twelve months prior, I wondered about which lessons I’d learn and which tests I’d have to pass, which partnerships would be productive and which late-night brainstorming session would – in fact – materialize. In the end, I can only hope that something was picked up along the way: and whether memories or morals, one wonders about how much is enough to be absorbed in such a lifetime snapshot.
From pondering proposals to navigating negotiations, the gamut of skills have been spanned, and along the way – without missing a beat – idols, idiots and icons appeared to share the path: each a telltale lighthouse of their own, whispering which should best be avoided and which cautiously neared. And as situational blindness migrates into a reality where you intermittently only need glasses, I realize that there’s still (and always will be) more to learn. In retrospect, I am thankful to say that I have developed a much lesser sense of myopia.
If it were not for my maverick, steadfast, wave-breaking Executive – if for nothing else – I would have remained a pebble in the University of Ottawa sea, haplessly gripping onto nothingness for a thick-stretched dozen. Like an unstoppable tsunami of ideas and will, these four were my political brothers, forming a strong-armed chain that not only got students out of ditches, but will remain a working model for member associations and SFUO executive teams for years ahead.
I recall a time when cornered by a student politician peer on the subject of the SFUO’s non-commitment to large-bodied advocacy groups, it seemed immediately clear that our mission in 2002-03 was not to dabble in the popular or the high-brow successes enjoyed by others, but to fix the house’s foundation before we applied another coat of high-gloss enamel. As I turn my head 180 degrees, I can safely say that that sole latter fact has been the guiding light behind our endeavours, and the gust in our determination to keep the end as far away as possible. Surviving. Striving.
The end has been a long time coming and the time spent, toiling between these four walls, will not be quickly forgotten. The friendships forged and the bruises accumulated along the way will only serve to make me and the SFUO team better leaders in the days, years and lifetime to come. For both, I am equally grateful as my appetite is now whetted.
In closing, I wish each and every one of you the courage to take on your projects, your dreams and your dares. In the end, always bear in mind that when the streetlights seem dim, look back and smile at how you never, ever, let school get in the way of your education.
From here to there, it’s been a whirling dervish of a time.
S*
2003.04.30
Scott Graham
SFUO VP, Academic 2002-03
scott.graham@email.com
A salute to all as I leave the SFUO:
As the month of May puts on its face of tulips and raindrops, and wipes it’s eyes for another long summer, I look back upon a year of projects dreamed, friendships born and souvenirs etched. Looking forward twelve months prior, I wondered about which lessons I’d learn and which tests I’d have to pass, which partnerships would be productive and which late-night brainstorming session would – in fact – materialize. In the end, I can only hope that something was picked up along the way: and whether memories or morals, one wonders about how much is enough to be absorbed in such a lifetime snapshot.
From pondering proposals to navigating negotiations, the gamut of skills have been spanned, and along the way – without missing a beat – idols, idiots and icons appeared to share the path: each a telltale lighthouse of their own, whispering which should best be avoided and which cautiously neared. And as situational blindness migrates into a reality where you intermittently only need glasses, I realize that there’s still (and always will be) more to learn. In retrospect, I am thankful to say that I have developed a much lesser sense of myopia.
If it were not for my maverick, steadfast, wave-breaking Executive – if for nothing else – I would have remained a pebble in the University of Ottawa sea, haplessly gripping onto nothingness for a thick-stretched dozen. Like an unstoppable tsunami of ideas and will, these four were my political brothers, forming a strong-armed chain that not only got students out of ditches, but will remain a working model for member associations and SFUO executive teams for years ahead.
I recall a time when cornered by a student politician peer on the subject of the SFUO’s non-commitment to large-bodied advocacy groups, it seemed immediately clear that our mission in 2002-03 was not to dabble in the popular or the high-brow successes enjoyed by others, but to fix the house’s foundation before we applied another coat of high-gloss enamel. As I turn my head 180 degrees, I can safely say that that sole latter fact has been the guiding light behind our endeavours, and the gust in our determination to keep the end as far away as possible. Surviving. Striving.
The end has been a long time coming and the time spent, toiling between these four walls, will not be quickly forgotten. The friendships forged and the bruises accumulated along the way will only serve to make me and the SFUO team better leaders in the days, years and lifetime to come. For both, I am equally grateful as my appetite is now whetted.
In closing, I wish each and every one of you the courage to take on your projects, your dreams and your dares. In the end, always bear in mind that when the streetlights seem dim, look back and smile at how you never, ever, let school get in the way of your education.
From here to there, it’s been a whirling dervish of a time.
S*
2003.04.30
Scott Graham
SFUO VP, Academic 2002-03
scott.graham@email.com
