Reflections from Terin Bufford, a current 2012 Texas League Spring Fellow.

“Who makes words?”  “Get your weight up.” “WE ARE SOCIETY!”

These are all phrases that could be heard at the February training for the Texas League Fellows in Houston. We came together to learn how to make local change by empowering our peers and building smart campaigns.

Christina Sanders, state director of the Texas League of Young Voters, along with her team, did an amazing job with breaking down the information that was presented to the Fellows.

“Your fear of winning doesn’t make sense,” Sanders said as she spoke to us. “There’s no such thing as losing.”

We were enthusiastically prepared for our second session. Over the course of the two-day training, we engaged in several activities that promote strategic thinking. At the opening of the weekend, the fellows were asked to complete a group challenge that would force them to listen to each other and come up with a solid strategy in order to complete the task.

“We need to stop talking about society in the third person. WE ARE SOCIETY, and once we understand that, we can find a way to change it,” said Advani Carter, 2012 Spring Fellow.

This training session covered: creating a story of self, us and now; strategy; building solid teams; delegation and accountability; and how to run voter registration, canvass, and phone bank campaigns.

Each of us spent most of the weekend trying to come up with stories of self and then trying to relate those stories to our audience. As day one came to a close, the League Fellows engaged in fun activities to continue to build strong bonds with each other.

On the final day of the retreat, the Texas League Fellows put their public speaking skills to the test as we presented our stories of us and self. As a whole, the team is full of wonderfully enthusiastic people who are ready to bring forth a major change in their communities.

The fellows came from San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, and Houston to participate in this retreat. As a fellow, I must say this had to be one of the best training sessions I’ve ever been involved in. The energy in the room kept things lively and fun.

One main thing that I respect most of all is that all of the fellows seem to genuinely care about finding ways to change their surrounding communities. Coming from all kinds of backgrounds, the Texas League of Young Voters Spring 2012 Fellows have proven to be a mighty force and I am so very proud to be a part of this team.