Stories from All Ways Up Alumni

Do you remember your All Ways Up (AWU) experience?

The AWU Alumni Association is launching an initiative called “Stories from AWU Alumni,” where we are asking each of you to reflect on your journey with AWU. Your story will help guide future scholars and alumni members as they journey with AWU.

If you would like to be a part of this initiative, please consider the following prompts to begin telling your alumni story:

· What does “All Ways Up” mean to you?

· Can you tell us how you became friends with a fellow AWU scholar? When did you meet? What did you learn about yourself while developing this friendship?

· What is it like being a part of the AWU ambassador program?

· What was it like applying to the AWU scholarship program?

· Describe your AWU Summit experience? How long did it last? What did you learn? What were some of your favorite moments? Which speaker or seminar did you enjoy the most?

· Describe a speaker/seminar experience that caught your attention the most during an AWU Summit. What did you take away from the presentation that helped you in college?

· Did you get a chance to become a counselor for one of the AWU Summits? If so, what did you learn from that experience?

· How did the All Ways Up Foundation help you navigate undergrad?

· How did the Working Scholars Program help you during undergrad?

While we encourage you to answer one prompt, you are welcome to answer more than one prompt. Please answer the prompts in your own way. Write a short story. Write a poem. Write your AWU story.

Here is an example from an AWU Alumnus:

Planes make me nervous. I like being on the ground, where my feet can feel the earth pressing against me. I like driving, where my hands steer, and my right foot moves from the gas to the breaks, over and over. There, I am in control. One day, that changed. The All Ways Up Foundation challenged me to surrender my fears to the air and fly to Los Angeles, California, attend an educational summit, and join the 2015 AWU Cohort. Arriving at the Shuttlesworth-Birmingham International Airport, named after a relentless, radical Baptist preacher and human rights leader, I stepped out of my mom’s car, kissed her goodbye, and began the journey to confronting my fears of flying. The sliding, double doors outside of the airport welcomed me to my future. The airport security check reminded me of a dark time in our history, where fear turned into hate, and discrimination found new victims. Take off your shoes. Take off your belt. Take off your jewelry. Take out your computer. All of this before takeoff? The intensity was frightening. When I made it out of security and made it to my terminal, my hands were shaking, waiting to onboard. Despite my fright, I flew, arrived in LAX, and spent a week laughing, dancing, and even crying. In one week, I discovered a new family, even though fear tried to stop me. As I reflect on my journey through All Ways Up, I cannot help but think how different my story would be if I allowed fear to stop me from surrendering to a pilot whose name I did not know, to a face that I could not see. Yet I surrendered and learned: this is All Ways Up. - Christian G. Crawford, AWU 2015

Please click this link to begin telling your story.

Thank you for your contributions to the All Ways Up Alumni Association. If you have any questions, please email the All Ways Up Alumni Association at awualumniassocation@gmail.com