"We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it ourselves
after a journey that no one can take for us." 
Marcel  Proust
 
The road to illumination begins with a journey;
in today’s world we all try to be like everyone else.
We think we are unique, and we are,
but at the same time we want to make everyone just like us.

Success is also a journey.
We want to become something - someone successful,
and that can be defined in countless ways.
Success means different things to different people.
It has multiple peaks and not one ultimate pinnacle.
 
One success can build on another.
Setbacks and mistakes can also help build success.
At different periods of life, success is defined differently.
Therefore, understanding one another is very important
in order to be successful in everyday life.
 
Going to Camp Freedom will be a journey.
We will be experiencing life under different constitutions.
For me, spending a week with my fellow Project members
will bring me closer to the world.
 
Engaging in conversations
that can only take place under these conditions
- traveling away from our everyday lives -
everyone seems to be more open,
more understanding,
more considerate of others
and the world around them.

Those who have been with the Project for a few years
have already discovered themselves,
their opinions, their strengths
and their weaknesses.
What we will now do is apply
those same awakenings to a different world
and see how it would change us.

By experiencing these new worlds,
some of us might like them better than our own,
others will see the splendor of our own globe.

It shall take heart,
courage
and great sportsmanship
to go where we are going;
the journey to enlightenment.
 
The best journey of them all.
 
Neeraj  Joshi
McLean County Diversity Project Scholar
June 1,  2008