#1. Part I: The Magic of OASC

When I think about a community that I am associated with that is the most involving, ethical, empowering and inclusive, one organization immediately comes to mind – OASC. The Ohio Association of Student Councils is a statewide organization that promotes the development of student councils and leadership skills in individuals across the state. Throughout the year it hosts retreats, workshops, and an annual conference that have incredible impacts on those attending and the schools involved.

I was a member of this organization throughout middle school and high school, and now I am a staff member for the future generations of OASC delegates. During my six years of involvement at the delegate level, there was not a cause or group that I was more passionate about; I began my involvement with minimal attendance to the events, and by my senior year, I was driving myself hours away to every event that I could sign up for. I probably sound like a lunatic, but I promise that I was not the only one driving sometimes up to three hours for a workshop. Hundreds of students across Ohio would do the same thing each month. The amount of involvement is still impressive for me to think about because we were all there with one common goal: improving our schools and our own leadership skills.

Members of the organization refer to the impact of the workshops as being the “magic of OASC.” It is an indescribable effect that occurs when some of the best leaders across the state congregate and support each other in a completely nonjudgmental and encouraging way. We talk about “warm fuzzies” and “filling each other’s buckets” – metaphors for empowering and building up the individuals around us. For me, and many others, the organization became a utopic bubble where we knew genuine bonds could develop and that it was a place where we could truly be ourselves.

The most influential of these events was a weeklong summer workshop that consisted of five days of intensive leadership training and growth with approximately 60 other delegates. It was at this retreat that some of the most meaningful connections were made. My favorite activity that stressed the interconnectedness that formed during the week, and between smaller councils of the workshop, occurred on the last day; it was called the spider web. The small councils passed around a ball of yarn in random directions across a circle of members. Each time the yarn was thrown to a new person, the person from which the yarn came from must say something about the person receiving the yarn regarding a way in which the receiver changed the thrower’s week, made an impact, or recognizing a special quality the receiver possessed. Following the activity, the yarn was cut and the piece of string that each member held was tied into a bracelet and worn for the following year. I think I took this activity a little too seriously, because I actually did wear it for a year most of the time. (Actually, last summer I cut my bracelet and made it into a keychain to take with me everywhere, but lost it a few weeks ago. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I nearly cried over a piece of lost yarn.)  This spider web activity is a testament to how the people of the organization and the community group have an interconnectedness that exists and is unparalleled by any other experience that I’ve ever had.

OASC is not a group that just sits around holding hands and singing kumbaya all day; we actually do have structure. We have an incredible executive director, a senior high director, middle level director, adult executive board, and a student executive board. The student executive board is chosen each year at an annual conference, involving over 700 people. This team of directors and board members make the decisions that govern the way in which the organization will be run for the upcoming year. Conflict does occasionally arise, but it is never evident to the delegates or those not involved. Staff members are also selected to run retreats and summer workshops. During these events, staff continuously reinforce the idea of reflection and the deeper meaning of silly games played. What can be learned? How does this relate to home student councils? If you redid this activity, what would you do differently? What was successful about the product? … Members are often asked many questions like these by trained staff members so that the full experience may be gained from activities that take place.

And I know this sounds corny and cliché, but the organization has truly changed my life. I have met some of the most influential and amazing people through the organization that still have an impact on my life every day… if you didn’t think I was crazy before, this is probably the last straw. (Oh what a great way to begin my posts!) But it is true. It is probably a little obvious of the significant meaning the organization holds to me. And what is my favorite part? The organization that has taught me so much as a delegate still actually allows me to come back every year. I have grown up and matured from a loud, obnoxious seventh grader to a staff member that now gets to encourage the little critters to go crazy and be obnoxious. I now am a part of the transformation in younger students that was once so life changing to me.