My choice to do work in the Groove Girls Project started with a desire to work on a website. In my brief respite from attending VMI I created web content, and thought that I could easily fall into this project without missing a beat. Beats were missed, though I realized it was nothing worth stressing over. Early in the class I had responded to a reading. The conclusion I drew from that reading was that attempting to be of service to someone requires a sort of blank mindset, a willingness to be adaptable and let the experience mold you. A few weeks after writing that piece I had apparently forgotten all about that epiphany.
My initial plan for contribution was to manage a Facebook page for the site. This did not seem to be an unrealistic or pointless project at first. My thinking was that by fostering a social media following at Washington and Lee, I could ensure a strong future for Groove Girls by generating interest among potential mentors. However issues with confidentiality and my lack of understanding of the project itself made this approach unfeasible. After a few fruitless weeks I scrapped the project with a mindset that was closer the rules of service that I had drafted earlier in the class. Dropping my own goals for the project allowed me to become someone useful.
After a discussion with Professor Hodde, it was determined that an Inspired By page would not just give a list of role models, but serve to demonstrate how resiliency had led to success for other young women. Resiliency was the strong tie to the Groove Girls project that I needed to make my work for the project meaningful. It is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Before changing my mindset I was fairly convinced that I had irrecoverably screwed up yet another school project by starting it all wrong. In hindsight that assessment seems a little dramatic. However hitting this rock bottom of confidence in the project is what allowed me to become the blank slate that the Groove Girls needed.
Following its publication the Inspired By page proved to be a modest initial success. One of the inspirations I had selected is a woman named Lily Herman, who created a website focused on helping disadvantaged students get into college. The Washington and Lee mentors for the Groove Girls riffed on this entry during a session and worked with the girls to create goals for the future. Even though I really did not know where the Inspired By page was going, turning away from my own plans gave me the ability not to just get work done, and to let the good in it come about organically.