The Olympic flame was lit in my heart as a teenager when I read a book by Gold medal rower Brad Lewis called "Assault on Lake Cassidas." After starting my quest as a rower, I eventually turned to archery. For the past eleven years the Olympics have defined the decisions I have made, large and small.
The pursuit of excellence has challenged my faith and my commitment to persevere. It has taught me to stick up for myself and then to stand for causes greater than myself. One such cause is Darfur.
Although I have been to two Olympics, Athens and Beijing, it was not in the capacity that I had hoped. In 2004, I was a spectator attending the games so that I might gain valuable experience for my anticipated trip as an athlete four years later. The Olympiad came and went but a tear in my teres minor postponed my dreams yet again. Determined to go to China, I took a job as a journalist.
In Beijing, being a journalist was surprisingly similar to being an athlete. Like an athlete, I had my own uniform and I even lived in a village. I had accreditation and access to restricted areas. But unlike an athlete, I was able to experience the other side of the fence, looking for story angles and seeking out good quotes. Aiming to get things done under deadline was a performance in and of itself.
As it turns out, I didn't know how lucky I was to be in China. Just days earlier, another member of Team Darfur who was supposed to work in a similar position to me had been denied a visa and was forced to stay in the United States. While I was at the Olympics both Joey Cheek and Brad Greiner, the co-founders of Team Darfur, had their visas denied.
No sooner had I arrived than I was told to remove my "Pray for China" wristband and asked not wear my Team Darfur clothes. Having freedom taken away from me for the first time in my life was an eye opener. On July 19th, two days after arriving in Beijing, I wrote in my journal, "I'm glad that my heart is hurting. For the first time since I started learning about Darfur, it matters so much that the violence stops because I don't have the freedom to express it.
Nothing compares to how it feels to lose freedom, even if it is at the very basic of levels. Genocide must be stopped and it needs activism behind it. Being in China was a good reminder to me to not become too complacent in my own life and to remember how important it is to stand up for what is right.
That being said, modern China has made a lot of progress since the days of Chairman Mao. A new generation has been born with hopes of a prosperous and powerful future. The youth of China are writing their own history and beginning with the Olympics, it is one that includes tolerance and acceptance. Getting beyond their past will take time but as Olympians know, "Impossible is Nothing."
