Family & So Much More…
During the months of COVID quarantine and the transition to remote work, I found myself coming back to this question: what does it mean to be part of a family? There is the traditional family unit, sure: the people whose blood runs in your veins for generations back. But what about different definitions of family? The people whose blood you don’t share, but for whom you would bleed? That is what ALG is for me, and they are the family I want to talk about today.
Most people consider themselves lucky to have a job that they like, and maybe even a few friends at work who they can laugh with or grab a drink with after a long day. But for me, my colleagues are the reason I get out of bed in the morning. They are the reason I always had a spring in my step trekking down Ngong Road during my 30 minute walk to the office, and the reason I now hop on Zoom calls before the sun has even risen. You see, when you work with brilliant, passionate, creative people who know the importance and the impact of their work, you tend to forget it’s… well, work. Instead, each day becomes an opportunity to learn from those around you and be inspired by their brilliance.
When I first joined the African Leadership Group I was 18 years old — a whole decade ago! That’s right, the African Leadership Group has been my family for over ⅓ of my life. As a gap year student at the African Leadership Academy, I showed up in Johannesburg a little nervous and very excited. When you’re that far from home, struggling through the hardest course load you’ve ever encountered, battling the college application process, and trying to sit still in an itchy maroon-and-black uniform, the people around you become your family. Not only because they lift you up and offer support and guidance; but also because they are in the trenches with you, and can empathize like no one else can.
The bonds formed at ALA — playing frisbee on the “quad”, crying over a failed economics exam (or two), celebrating someone’s birthday by dumping buckets of water on her head, sitting with the Entrepreneurship faculty to try to understand the way they see the world through a lens of opportunity — these bonds came to feel like family.
This family unit persisted, morphing across geographies from Johannesburg to my aunt’s kitchen table, where I celebrated Thanksgiving with my ALA roommate Marie Florence and our friend Aissatou. To Marrakesh with Ziyad, Souhail, and Ammar for a summer of business prototyping. To Joal-Fadiouth, Senegal, with Linda, Alioune, Veda, and the Guindi Leadership Camp team. Finally, this past December, to Abidjan, where ALA alumni gathered by the dozens to celebrate Marie Florence’s marriage in style.
Since 2010 my classmates, friends, colleagues, interns, and mentors have become the most important people in my life, and they are all connected by the common thread of the African Leadership Group.
Fast forward 10 years, and here I am, still part of this family.
Over the past decade I have done many things: graduated from college, completed a marathon, lived in Mauritius, Rwanda, and Kenya, and grown personally and professionally in immeasurable ways. But the one constant, the place I ground myself, is the African Leadership Group. I firmly believe that if you’re chasing a moonshot vision, you’ll need to do it alongside people who inspire you, force you to grow, and can make you laugh so hard your eyes water. They are family and so much more!
You can join the family too, apply here
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Julia Paolillo
