Space & Celebration

~ Leah Garritt

There were many things that I learned from participating in Seeds of Success, but the most important one is that solidarity and support between writers really is priceless. The sense of community that I felt during this project, both within the Capstone class planning sessions and at the Blooming Together event, was incredible. Although unfortunately I didn't get the chance to meet my group's alums or mentees during the appointed get-together times—I went home for the long weekend when we set up all of the alumni meetings back to back, and the mentee meeting that I was planning to attend ended up being cancelled by the mentee herself—I still was able to talk to two of my group's alums at Blooming Together. Lizz especially was wonderful to talk to; as soon as I introduced myself and explained that I was in her group but unable to meet her the previous weekend, she sat down with me and started asking me questions so that she could get to know me. I also spoke to two alums from other groups, both of whom were exceptionally kind and welcoming. Blooming Together truly did feel like a celebration of everything we have accomplished up until now, and although I did have a couple serious doubts during the sometimes-overwhelming planning process, it turned out even better than I could have expected. As we have discussed previously in class, writing can be a very lonely journey, so it was amazing to share space and celebration with so many like-minded people. I really loved being a part of this project and I look forward to a future where I can give back to another Capstone class in the same way that our outstanding alumni gave back to us.