Out of the night that covers me

Email to Friends- 31/3/14 13:41

Friend-

I first heard these words when I was in high school. I had been away at the NAS Oceana Military Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia for Leadership Academy in the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) Program. The night was dark, I was tired, exhausted, and worn out to say the least. The marines had worked us to the core. They pushed us to our limits, both physically and mentally. I thought I was going to die, I wanted to quit. My head was bowed, my body slumped over as I struggled to catch my breath; then, I heard those words: 

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

One of the cadets had mustered up the strength from what ever energy he had left in him and recited this poem. He repeated the last two lines over and over, looking me dead in the eye until I found myself saying them as well. The other cadets in our bunker joined in. I had never heard something that moved me so much as this--Invictus. In that moment we knew we were all we had. We knew that we could do this. Being in JROTC is my proudest accomplishment to date. It disciplined me, instilled in me the navy's core values of honor, courage, and commitment, and exposed me to this poem. This poem has gotten me through my darkest hours. Out of the night that covers me.

I write this piece of correspondence as I am sitting at a small cafe waiting on the ferry that will take me to Robben Island. I am thinking about Nelson Mandela, the man that he was, the man that he became, and the man that he will be to generations that come. I am thinking about his legacy and how through his darkest hours he found peace and solidarity. I am preparing myself to be in a space that will change my life forever. 

This is day 4 out of our 6 day stay in Cape Town. I have visited a Township; distributing TOMS Shoes as a part of a Shoe Drop, District 6 Apartheid Museum and hiked up Signal Point. Perhaps I'll hike to the top of Table Mountain (Picture Included). I am blessed because of you-and I just want to say thank you for everything...

"I have learnt that even though there are horrors facing our world, there is goid buried within it, evident in those willing to reach out a hand or heart to help. I firmly believe that the life of one person, if helped, can change the course of the world, as you never know who that little girl or boy could be or could achieve." -Ashley Kaimowitz 

Brian Stewart

White House Intern OFL 2013
Semester at Sea Spring 2014
Morgan State University 2015
B.S. Business Administration -

International Relations

Brian Stewart

White House Intern OFL 2013
Semester at Sea Spring 2014
Morgan State University 2015
B.S. Business Administration - International Relations