Getting drunk with very young people...

...in rainy Seattle. This is not something that I would have foreseen. But it was a side effect of being called "the grooviest evaluator" by a class of students on their way out of college and into real life. And it was A LOT OF FUN.

Hanging out with kids that are making up their minds--at least sporadically--about what they want to do for the rest of their lives is compelling. They have the urge to find something meaningful, but the ease of knowing that life is just beginning. They are somehow troubled, but not yet too much, and believe that everything remains to be done, at the same time of being jittery about what the future will bring for each of them, individually.

This particular group, which worked as a Task Force for one of the research/advocacy projects of the PI, was deeply inspired by the work of gropus all over the world, working to hold their governments to account. They were passionate about budgets as a tool for advocacy, and passionate about making change happen. And even if only one of them takes this as a lasting input into what they want to do with their lives, it was worth it.

It also made me think about those people who have been an inspiration to me. Some are gone, many remain. And I have the privilege of working by their side, of building something together with them, and of learning from them. Strangely enough, I don't feel too far away from the Task Force kids--I am happy to say that I am still excited thinking about what life can bring and what changes might happen.

But, I should get drunk more often.