By Brett Morris

I am a student at Emory and Henry College. When I began my intership with the Virginia Organizing Project, I barely knew what to expect. So I visited the VOP website, and found that I wholeheartedly agreed with what I saw.

My focus up to then had been on Appalachian Southwest Virginia and cultural preservation. I wasn’t sure I was ready to discuss all the issues VOP takes on. But I made it a goal to learn everything I could. Now, I can tell anyone about how the 2002 Payday Loan Act impacted the people and economy all throughout Virginia, and what VOP and the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending and others are doing to change this situation.

I had taken a course on community organizing, but I had a lot to learn — about how much hard work it takes to improve turnout for a local meeting, what it takes to get people involved, and how difficult it is to successfully give a voice to those who have traditionally been left out of the process.

My work with VOP caused me to face many of my fears, as well — just like senior practicum sites are designed to do. I would rather be doing a million other things than making fundraising phone calls to people I’m convinced don’t want me interrupting their dinners, petitioning against something many know relatively little about in a shopping mall, or speaking to city councils and boards of supervisors. But now, I realize how important these skills are and how I will be able to use them in the future.

My VOP experience has strengthened my commitment to resolving the issues for the people of Appalachia, and given me an experience that I doubt many people in life will get. I know just a little bit more about how to change the world now.