Village

Selma, a recent graduate, arrived at VCU in the summer of 2021, fresh from a high school experience defined by virtual classrooms and the political unrest that followed the death of George Floyd. “The events of that summer kind of shifted my viewpoint on what the world feels like,” Selma reflected. “I participated in a lot of marches during the summer of 2020 and had been training to become an EMT. I realized I wanted to help people, but not in a ‘doctor’ way. I decided I would go to VCU and figure it out.”

Selma was introduced to the Pace Center through a cousin and quickly joined Pace’s leadership program. “I was really eager to connect with people after so many months of isolation,” she recalled. Weekly leadership meetings helped Selma channel her energy into action. “I was like, what is this place? Like, you just can think of a program that you want to do and just plan it, and it can happen?”

Selma also learned the power of relationship-building. “We talk about wanting to have ‘community’, and ‘neighbors’, and ‘village’,” she observed. “A lot of times people wait for that to exist, and it becomes this passive wish that you hope will happen. Pace is a place where community exists because people contribute to it. Pace taught me that if you keep showing up, you can be a part of something.”

Selma carried these ideals into her work with Students for Justice in Palestine, where she helped facilitate meetings. “How do you build community, especially when there's a lot going on and a lot of urgency?” she asked. “I remember meetings where I pulled out documents that we used in Pace’s leadership training to try to figure out our purpose and get everyone on the same page.”

As Selma looks ahead to a career in advocacy or policy, she credits Pace with giving her the confidence to lead. “Whether it’s a Pace program like Walk-A-Dog or a social movement like Students for Justice in Palestine, there are some really key principles of relationship-building and getting people invested that I learned at Pace. I know now that I can walk into any space and make something happen.” 

Thank you for supporting Pace and helping us teach community-building skills to future leaders.