Face2Face 2019
Now that it’s been some time and I’ve had adequate sleeps and caffeine I feel that I can almost put into words the work we were able to do at our first Campference of the summer.
We brought together a group of young adults that are living with a cancer diagnosis. This weekend was so much more than cancer though. We talked about school, jobs, dating, and general young “adulting”. These young people trusted Next Step and our process and gave up a long weekend to be with us.
The first day is filled with excitement and some anxiety. Meeting new people can be, for lack of a better word, scary. For those of you that know us, we at Next Step can be “extra”. We go extra to ensure we set up a space that’s comfortable and safe. We go extra to introduce people to people, and activities, and music. We go extra to make sure we are inclusive. I wear the “extra” badge with honor.
By day 2 we were in it. Everyone (mostly) knew everyone else’s name. We got to dig into what brought us all together for the weekend. We got to think about what matters the most to us in our day to day and how to start thinking about going after it.
On day 3 we stirred it up. We practiced real-time conversations and threw in a little conflict to really stir the pot. By the time the Survivor Panel session everyone was ready with questions and discussions.
Stage Night was a hit! We had some amazing and talented young people show their stuff! We were able to perform the community song that was written over the weekend twice!
On Sunday we relished in what we had accomplished this weekend and made a plan for the future. Writing a “warm and fuzzy” to ourselves to add to our collection was a great way to wrap up an incredible weekend. So much love to our Face2Face community. See you next year!
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