SPOP.
Immediately... I think of LIFE. I think of energy. I think of new beginnings. And most importantly I think of HOPE.
Those are all things that SPOP had given to me as a freshman. Those are all things, as a staffer of two years, that I had wanted to give to others...
SPOP 7 2009 was like forming a full circle. I rushed out of my midterm to barely make it onto the talent show stage to perform my last spaerobics. I was frazzled by the end and took sometime to recollect myself for Modern... however, the recollection was in vain. My mind was wrapped around the concept of this being my last SPOP experience and I couldn't help but watch the rest of talent show in awe... I couldn't smile, I couldn't laugh and I couldn't cheer in fear that any of those things would break the seal between me and my emotions. Whatever... I cried anyways.
That was the longest walk back to my hall. I think I did it purposely just so I can take the advice I once gave my spfamily during the end of our first discussion, "don't forget to take a step back and take in all the wonderful things that are happening." During that walk I remembered golden butterflies from the end of SPOP 10 2008 that I watched dance with AK on the way back to Captain Planet's Camino Goes Green-O... I also remembered SPOP 3 2006 waiting outside of the Bren Events center with my hall standing in a circle and screaming "C-L-OOOOOOOOO!" with our 00Cielo (double "o" cielo) staffers in the middle, watching them cry and wondering why they were so emotional... and even now, after being in their shoes, I can still question why, but not because I cannot see what life fulfilling things come out of the SPOP experience, but because there are just so many that I cannot leave one sole reason for being responsible.
Full Circle... SPOP 7 was not sad. I felt a sort of completion. I felt that I had succeeded in paying back what my staffers have given to me. When I see the smiles on my spoppers faces come closing I know that in some way or another they are touched... they've left those two days with a plethora of new games, a new friend, a new ambition, a new perspective... and if I am lucky enough, a new sense of that HOPE. A hope to be in a better place, a hope to be a better person, a hope to have a better experience... a better life. My last SPOP rant... I don't know exactly what I said in between the tears except for one thing... asking them, begging them, to pay it forward and to never underestimate the power of their influence and use that influence to give people every bit of happiness that was given to them... I told them that LIFE can be SPOP, if you just make it that way... and I told them that the person they're trying to find is no one but themselves... and that yourself isn't somebody that you LOOK for... it's someone that you WORK on... make your LIFE a HOPE to have the motivation to put yourself in a BETTER PLACE and to make yourself a BETTER PERSON... and that's SPOP.
From Purple Year to Gold Year to Royal Year I have been blessed with so may lessons and so many inspiring people... and it is bittersweet to end the SPOP chapter of my life... it was the first of my firsts in college, and it is the first of my lasts as well, and I cannot thank this program enough for preparing me for both journeys...
This is no where near a clear depiction of what SPOP means to me. From that complete mess of a person I knew back then who needed that push of hope to be in a better place to this striving woman using that hope to instill into others the greatness of the opportunities that lay ahead of them... I cannot fully explain to you how I feel about SPOP in a mere blog entry, but in a lifetime of stories that lead up to this next story... the termination of my college life.
---Some Advice to Aspiring Returners---
Be aware of the reasons you have for reapplying. Know that as a returner it is your duty to instill everything that is wonderful about this program and to be critical about everything that could be better. It is your duty to know even more so when to step up and when to step back, and you will find yourself more than ever stepping up to those positions are not necessarily the most pleasurable but the most vital. Know that it will not be Royal year... and enter your returner year already convinced that it will not be the same, it will not be better, it will not be worse... it will just be different. Know that the difference between this year and last year is the difference between the coordinators, the staff, the freshman, and yourself. Know that also, a returner is not only tending to the experience of their spoppers but the experience of their fellow staffers as well. Be there for your staff. Be the positivity and the energy that they need in tough times, and be the passion that inspires their own passion about this program. BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING... remember... if you are to get that returner position... there are no shoes to fill, no expectations to be met, no definitions to be loyal to... there only shoes to make, expectations to be surpassed, and definitions to be written. Do not waste time trying to reenact Royal year, but spend your time creating an entirely new experience. Be Royal in your heart, but be ______ in your intentions.
... that's all. Thank you Purple for inspiring me. Thank you Gold for challenging me. Thank you Royal for completing me.
