TWLOHA conference

Ironically, I come back and start doing work. I find out I have to write a paper describing an amazing experience I've had. EASY!:

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to go to a conference in Coco Beach, FL. It was a conference for starting a chapter at UML for To Write Love On Her Arms. TWLOHA is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also invest directly into treatment and recovery. This mission statement doesn’t do justice for the movement that has so many caring people working for them. People who I was fortunate enough to be around from Thursday till Saturday.
The issues discussed here are things I hold so close to my heart; things I want to live for so I can help people walk down their paths less alone. It was exciting to me because I was able to have honest conversations about topics that can unfortunately sometimes be hard to talk about. People with amazing stories surrounded me. The counselors, speakers, interns, and also the 24 other people who attended this session of the conference. We all had such a care for this movement, and I think that’s why we ere able to become so close right away.
The first night I felt like I was surrounded by best friends who I’d known not just for a few hours; but for a lifetime. There was so much lightness filling the room during these conversations about such dark, heavy topics. But these people had some of the best personalities I’ve ever met; and they were normal. They were real. We would walk on the beach, go in the pool, eat at IHOP at midnight and talk in the hotel lobby until 2 or 3 in the morning. I felt this sense of community. I felt loved, and I loved everyone around me.
The conference ended, but the movement is still just beginning. Some of the relationships I made there I believe will last throughout my life. We are planning to meet next summer again, and all already miss each other. It was an amazing weekend, and I am so glad I went. I feel like these words do it an injustice. That it was better than I could ever possibly explain. That the personalities were more creative, unique, and caring than I could ever describe. The passion stronger than anything else in our lives. We were all grateful learning and spreading the word that love is the movement.

<3