The Journey Begins

https://base-camp.me/2020/11/16/the-journey-begins/

Wood cracks and pops from the heat of the campfire. Embers streak toward the night sky, dots of orange light rocketing upward to mingle with the stars above. From a small, uninhabited island just north of BaseCamp, Brandon, surrounded by new and familiar team members, watches his paper lantern disappear into the distant darkness. And in that quiet, on a warm night at the end of summer, he catches himself thinking about the unlikely path that brought him to this moment. His moment.

“For most of the summer I was waking up at 7 in the morning and going downtown and setting up a protest site,” said Brandon, who joined Black Lives Matter protesters in Wilmington, N.C. following the death of George Floyd. “Spending as much time as I was protesting, constantly breathing out and venting my trauma and the trauma in my community and around me – I lost track of myself. I wasn’t taking care of myself, wasn’t eating right, wasn’t sleeping well. And I could see a crash on the horizon. I was desperately trying to find ways that I could find some respite. I won’t say normalcy,” he added, “because I didn’t want normalcy. I knew that there would never be normal again. But I was in desperate need of trying to find who Brandon was. Because I had lost track of who I was. I was trying to save everybody and trying to do so much, but carrying so much weight day to day became really heavy. I felt like I couldn’t find anything.”

Brandon’s activism – his passion – did not go unnoticed. In July of 2020, Brandon was invited to enroll in BaseCamp's Global Ambassador University, a one-of-a-kind program designed to help individuals pursue their passions, build their networks, travel the globe, and discover knowledge of others and themselves needed to realize their ambitions. Brandon jumped at the opportunity.

“The Global Ambassador University is giving me the opportunity to take my activism to a different stage,” he said. “I never really imagined the two worlds would mix. Now it’s no longer a job—it’s me doing what I love.”

Brandon was invited to BaseCamp to celebrate his launch into the Global Ambassador University – a unique facility saturated with purpose and focus, built to connect individuals to themselves, each other, and the natural beauty around them.

“Just going there and experiencing it was incredible. I had no idea what I’d walked into, but getting there and seeing the space – it was surreal,” said Brandon. “At BaseCamp, there are so many things that get your senses going. You take in what you’re seeing, hearing, smelling – even tasting, because you’re probably tasting the salt air when you’re on the jet ski or the airboat. And through all of those senses being activated, you feel more open,” he said. “There’s less brain fog. The ability to think clearly is there. You’re communicating with people. You’re going through a new experience that may make other people feel vulnerable and more willing to share how they’re feeling. BaseCamp brings all of that out. I haven’t really found too many places like Basecamp where I’ve been able to ground myself like that.”

That night, Brandon joined a small team as they disembarked from the BaseCamp dock and crossed the water to a small island. A campfire was already roaring when they arrived, waiting to welcome the team as they commemorated the beginning of Brandon’s Global Ambassador journey.

For a moment, the pressure felt enormous.

“I can’t believe I have this opportunity,” Brandon thought. “I need to make sure I make the most of this. But I don’t want to find myself in a position where I am looked at to be the mouthpiece for the entire Black community. I don’t want that.”

But soon the pressure passed, and the possibilities inherent in the moment swept over him.

“At the same time there’s this huge opportunity that I feel as though I can’t mess up, because it changes things for others that look like me,” he thought. “I’m super passionate about change and trying to make sure others have access to opportunities and access to resources. So making sure that I keep that perspective allows me to kind of ground myself.”

The team settled in around the campfire, talking and joking. With Brandon were members of the BaseCamp Executive Team, along with friends from Engineering and staff, each there to offer their support and encouragement. The atmosphere was light, familial, and comfortable. The time had come for Brandon to begin his journey, and to mark the occasion, he was invited to light a paper lantern and watch it rise over the ocean and into the night sky.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Brandon, “but it just floated up. It was beautiful, and I felt really introspective just looking up at it.”

It’s a quiet moment. A moment earned from years of struggle, passion and belief. It’s his moment. And in that moment, as the lantern disappears into the night, Brandon finds a sudden calm.

“I remember thinking a lot, thinking that the lantern wasn’t going to do that. I didn’t think it would fly as long or far as it did,” he said. “And I started thinking that the possibilities are endless. Through all of this – this opportunity. I just have to remember to believe in myself, because maybe, there’s something to believe in.”