This is reposted from Charmain Schocat’s original LinkedIn post with permission.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Provincial Retreat with the Rise Up! Program, the youth program my partner and I have been involved with since last year (including presenting at the Northern Food Summit in Prince George last October!)

After a difficult year and a personal loss, I’ve been running on empty and burned out. However, this retreat shifted something and I felt a small spark return. The word that keeps coming to mind is inspiring.

This experience reinforced something simple but important—one of the most valuable things we can offer is our time. Time to listen. Time to reflect. Time to learn. Time to give back.

Being surrounded by people from diverse backgrounds, all committed to meaningful, necessary change, was a powerful reminder (especially in the current state of the world) that there is still so much good work happening and work that needs to be done.

As I continue to grow in my career as a researcher, one challenge stands out: time. How do we balance the urgency of this work with the limits of our capacity? This experience reinforced something simple but important—one of the most valuable things we can offer is our time. Time to listen. Time to reflect. Time to learn. Time to give back.

Through the Rise Up! Program, I had the chance to connect with an incredible cohort (even though I was sick for most of it, ha!) People who are not only ambitious, but who carry something that feels rare right now: hope.

I’m genuinely excited to see where this group will be in five, ten years, twenty years. If this weekend was any indication, the future is in thoughtful, capable hands. And boy do we need that!

I’m genuinely excited to see where this group will be in five, ten years, twenty years… The future is in thoughtful, capable hands.