RMC Athena Network Book Club
This winter, the Rèseau Athena Network at RMC launched its virtual book club series. I was so honoured that The Stone Frigate was their first book selection. I was excited, as always, for the chance to spend time with cadets!
Thank you to the organizing committee for all the hard work it took to pull together a gathering from one end of Canada to the other. In early October, 2020, Valerie Cunningham-Reimann reached out to me, inquiring if I’d be interested in participating and I jumped at the opportunity. What an incredible group of talented and fabulous young leaders. Valerie worked incalculable hours in preparation and coordination behind the scenes to pull it all together. Like every good leader, she was supported by a strong team: Jenna Andrews, Jayd Bodner, Laura Gordon-Guimont, and Shania Sampson. They helped with the planning, stepped up to be small group leaders and facilitate discussions, as well as being on top of all the tasks thrown at them along the way. Athena Network mentors, Dr. Kevin Brushett and Dr. Marie-Michèle Doucet deserve honourable mention for their ongoing, incredible support and facilitation of Athena as a whole.
The series was broken down into three parts.
Part One: “What it was like before RMC”. On February 10th, 2021, we gathered together as a one large group on Zoom. I was invited, as guest speaker, to introduce myself, do a short reading from my book, and talk about my early life and events that led me to become a cadet at RMC. I shared a few stories from my childhood that were relevant to the topic, along with an accompanying slide show. To my delight, most of the evening was spent in vibrant conversation discussing broad topics and answering insightful, interesting questions that were asked. After all the months of planning, it was wonderful to be part of a successful launch and to join together with everyone and see all the smiling faces in our group.
Part Two: “What happened at RMC”. Of course, this is what my book is about and the small groups broke off, without my participation, to read and gather together regularly throughout the course of the winter to share about their reading experience. Small group leaders created safe environments and led intimate discussions which allowed members to talk about whatever was coming up for them.
Part Three: “What it’s like now”. On April 14, 2021, we met again for a book club wrap-up discussion with all of the participants and my surprise guest, Elizabeth Caswell, Class of 1984. Thank you, Liz, for joining us and adding some real spark to our evening. Pre-meeting, in her organizing email, Valerie sent out wine-pairing suggestions for the event and that was lots of fun to see! My talk was brief; the reading of a short opinion piece on the impact of sexism on my life (see: Servicewomen's Salute journal entry post dated December 3, 2020). After which, another round of lively conversation ensued within the group. I am continually awed and heartened by the brilliant, talented, gorgeous, fabulous young people attending RMC.
This year has been so radically different from anything anyone could have ever imagined in the life of an RMC cadet, and throughout the mayhem and uncertainty Athena continues to create events to inspire us, to keep bringing us back to together, and to remind us about what really matters. So long as we keep talking to each and sharing what is real for us, in a fun atmosphere and safe environment, we will keep moving forward. It’s been an absolute honour to spend time with you this winter. And for that, I remain eternally grateful.
Okay! One last thing. In my cheesiness, I attempted to end our time together on the 14th with a music video but my computer wasn’t cooperating during the meeting. Here’s a link to the official video of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song”. Please watch the whole thing and you’ll know why I love it and wanted to share it with you!
Be safe and keep well until we can meet in real life again. xo