Words by: Aindrea Ciel Winklaar
I wander, not just through meeting halls and classrooms, but through service, through purpose, through change. I look for what roots have taken hold, what scattered seeds have blossomed into promising sprouts. From them, ideas and conversations emerge; a bloom in the vast forest. I pause and take notice of the leaves: Do they carry hope? Opportunity? A place to be? I explore further to find the answer.
In my journey, I wonder if the spaces I passed by have borne the fruits of our work. How many steps have we taken together? How many more lie ahead? In the future running toward us, will the next generation of student leaders face the same wall of prejudice I once did? Or will they find the wall thinned—cracked open by those who pushed through it?
Once more, I continue to wander, tracing the footprints I have already left behind. I may take my steps differently, but that is the wonder of it. I look through a different lens and see in an alternate light. In that difference, I notice what is missing, forgotten—what is only accessible to some. That space becomes mine to fulfill; an opportunity to serve my community with eyes that look beyond the visible.
I break through the boundaries of servanthood, revealing that these limits are nothing more than what we imagined it to be. I have amplified those unheard with my voice. It insists on being counted. With the committees I lead and positions I hold, I slide open the doors for my community—in the conversations unfolding within the walls of leadership. In the meeting room, a seat awaits just for us. Our presence will be expected. The spot we occupy—it truly becomes everyone’s.
I wonder, however, will all these blossoms truly come to full bloom? The doors that we have opened, will they stay that way or swing shut once more? Change stands on shaky ground, its permanence not promised. With every project I propose and advocacy I bring into reality for those whose visions share the same challenge as mine, I hope it lights a spark in them to continue our footprints; enough to start a fire, and tend it to grow to endure even the harshest of winds. Those yellow step markers light up the way to the future where we are seen, regardless of how we see.
I wonder where to wander next.