February 20, 2015
Read time : 5 min

t was about four months ago that the five of us on the Loyola team were sitting at a round table deciding if we wanted to move forward with this campaign. Each of us is on the executive staff of our Student Government Association and knew that we had endless obligations, but we also all felt compelled to do something with the resources we had in each other. We are comprised of an organizer, a programmer, a communicator, an outreach guru, and a leader. We did these tasks seamlessly in SGA, so who was to say that we couldn’t in this competition?

The national debt came as a serious concern to each of us when we were presented with this opportunity. Most of us are taking out student loans, we understand that our social security is being dwindled away above us, and we know that it’s our futures at risk if the problem isn’t addressed. When we decided to move forward with this campaign, we did it because we were devoted, concerned, and ready to take action. We all knew of the problems and we all knew that we wanted to be a part of the solution, and here was our chance. We decided to grab the campaign by the horns and haven’t looked back since – and we are so excited with our decision.

Flash forward to February, and I can’t believe how far this team has come. First, we developed relationships with one another that we didn’t realize could grow even more from what they already were. I learned about the talents that each of our team members possesses and was constantly inspired to be more and do more than I had ever accomplished before. We laughed along the way, calling each other out on our mistakes and helping one another to grow. We had late nights and early mornings, and saw one another at our most delirious, and that made us all the better because we knew how to help one another to succeed.

We also learned so much about our abilities, our weaknesses, and most importantly, the national debt and how we can fight to address it. While many of our peers seemed apathetic at first, they were suddenly captivated by the individual impact the issues would have on their futures. We watched as they became outraged, outspoken, and ready to move forward with us. By the time we reached our wildcard activity, where we paraded through campus and demanded the attention of our peers, many of them were ready to join in with us and marched up and down our sidewalks with pride. We learned that how you communicate an issue can make all of the difference, and we are so happy with how it turned out.

And perhaps most importantly, the members on this team were fiercely loyal both to one another and to the cause. Every time someone mentioned their stresses, someone picked up the slack to help them. Every time someone felt burnt out from the action, someone reminded them why they were doing this. Each person on our team, both our core team and our extended membership, was intensely dedicated and loyal to this entire campaign and for that, we had success on our campus.

The last four months have been exciting, intense, and rewarding. We could not have done it without the support of one another, and we know that with a team like this, anything is possible. The national debt is a matter that demands our attention, and this journey was well worth the effort.