In a different moment in time, I would have graduated college in person next week. On the national mall, shadowed by monuments I’ve run by many times, you could have recognized me by three words decorated on the back of my cap. “Just Show Up”—a reminder that the best decision I made in undergrad was simply showing up.
Of course there was no cap, no graduation, just a technologically sophisticated powerpoint marketed as the virtual graduation celebration. I can’t leave this bizarre graduation season without acknowledging how much I not only valued the friendship, community and support of November Project, but actually depended on it. They say it takes a village to raise a child, which I can say for certain is true, if the aforementioned child is an 18 year old college student 3,000 miles from home, and the village a free fitness community entirely made up almost entirely of non-students.
I wasn’t a runner when I showed up to NP for the first time January of my freshman year, and subsequently got my ass handed to me many times during workouts. But there was something exciting about getting up to workout with strangers while the rest of my friends were asleep. I soon developed a love for all corners of DC—something most college students never experience. I spent more Friday mornings at random recreation centers in all four quadrants than I did Thursday nights drinking lukewarm beer in frat basements. Taking a class at 8 AM or 9:35 meant that I would run with a notebook and pen in my vest, and in less sweaty months would go straight from NP coffee to class. Classmates became familiar with the spray-painted tag on my running clothes and I did four different class assignments on November Project.
That isn’t to say that my NP attendance was stellar, or even consistent during my time in college. There were seasons of life that going to NP felt impossible. The semesters where water polo practice ended at 11:45 pm, the next morning my sweat soaked skin strongly scented of cheap chlorine. There were late night group project meetings, RA emergencies, and too much homework and studying. But NP was always what I needed. The reminder that there is a life beyond the insular walls of college, and that there is in fact an end. I feel like I’ve collected college advice from nearly every person I’ve interacted with. “What you are stressed about now won’t matter on graduation weekend,” a wise partner plank once told me. They were right.
Some of my best memories of college are NP workouts. Some of my closest friendships, not students from my university. My perspective on DC is so much greater than the 12 city blocks my university occupies, and my connection to DC so much stronger than just school. To everyone in the November Project DC community, I’m so fucking glad you’re here. Thank you for being here, thank you for being you when I needed it the most.
–Ana Little-Saña, George Washington University class of 2021
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Congratulations on your graduation!! And Thank You for sharing your story, I’m glad you’re here! <3
WOW – this is so powerful & such a testament to the DC NP community!!