Little Gifts
After countless visits to the Big Apple and other packed metropolitan areas, I’ve finally made my decision. Small town living is for me. Don’t get me wrong, huge cities have their enchantment like world-class entertainment, opportunities for great jobs and an unending array of tasty takeout options. This, however, pales in comparison to the easy pace of living in a place like Hartsville. Sure, from time to time you may bump into Toby at the grocery store but it’s that level of accountability that I find endearing. “How are your kids doing?” “Yes, it has been unbearably scorching this summer.” The introverted parts of us always find a beautifully crafted excuse but let’s be honest, Why the hell weren’t you at the cookout on Sunday?
As you may have learned from our previous From The Heart Series story, I believe the slower speed of small town living allows us to make connections that can truly be a gift of a lifetime. Shortly after moving to Hartsville, I remember attending the first of those “cookouts” which proudly showcased the great and powerful Frogmore Stew. As I rummaged through a mountain of shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage, corn on the cob and red potatoes, someone struck up a conversation with me. If you’ve gotten the chance to speak with Aimee Cox-King, you’ve undoubtedly got to experience her glowing personality and deep sense of duty, not just for our community, but for the young souls that will inherit it one day. This, my friends, is her story.
Aimee Cox-King on the bank of Beaverdam Creek.
It was 1991, and I was 16 years old. I was eating lunch downtown at the old Boyd Powe (now the Blind Pig) and saw flags going by on the street. I thought to myself, “Is there a parade today?” I looked more closely out the window and saw the white cloaks and white hoods that I immediately recognized as the Klu Klux Klan.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rage and anger instinctively began to boil. I ran to my car to follow them and see where they were going and found them in the parking lot behind what is now the Mantissa Hotel. They were assembled there, in their cloaks and hoods, flags a flyin’, listening to someone on a microphone. I remember seeing the police protecting the area. I especially noticed a black policeman, and could only imagine what it must feel like for him to be protecting that space. Words truly cannot express what I felt. I was mortified, furious. I had never before felt the rage that I was experiencing.
Unable to believe my eyes and having no clue what to do, I drove as quickly as I could to speak with my father. Balling my eyes out, I busted into his office and exclaimed that we had to do something, that this was not okay and I couldn't just stand by and watch it happen! He explained to me that all groups have the right to assemble and there is nothing I can do except be the change that I want to see in the world.
I remember trying to talk to my white and black peers about it and everyone just brushed it off because it hadn’t surprised anyone else. It seemed everyone was just used to it, thought that it was ok or accepted that there was nothing that could be done about it.
I felt devastated and decided right there that as soon as I could get out of Hartsville, I would leave and never come back.
“There is nothing I can do except be the change that I want to see in the world.”
Experiences, both positive and negative, help shape who we are. However traumatic this was for Aimee, this was the first of many “Little Gifts” that helped shape the leader she is and continues to become.
Most of Aimee’s twenties were spent angry, depressed, and anxiety ridden. At 28, desperate for change and a sense of connection, she quit her job, loaded up the old two-door Tahoe truck with camping gear and her beloved mountain bike, then headed west. Leaving the only culture she had ever known, the first step towards her purpose began.
I travelled for two months staying in state and national parks from SC to CA. I ended up settling in Flagstaff, AZ where I would learn to rock climb and have daily access to such natural wonders as the Grand Canyon, sandstone cliffs of Sedona and Zion, and the Painted Desert.
Still working through the weight of my first 28 trips around the sun, someone I worked with recommended that I give their therapist a call. The decision to seek help and contact CeCe was the second best thing I ever did for myself, right behind taking that initial leap away from my home in the South. CeCe gave me the gift of self-awareness. She helped me see that I had no vocabulary with which to understand my emotions.
I was filled with rage and confusion and sadness. She helped strengthen my emotional vocabulary and taught me how to discern between my feelings and thoughts. She helped me to become aware of my passion for the outdoors and for processing what it means to be human.
She helped me to identify what is important and meaningful to me and to create a mission statement for my life, which remains true to this day, “To contribute to the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of youth in my community.”
Aimee Cox-King at the north rim of the Grand Canyon at the beginning of her journey through the American West.
I knew I wanted to work outdoors and dreamed of helping young people navigate the tumultuous life stage of adolescence. So I googled “educational jobs in the outdoors” and discovered for the first time that outdoor experiential education is actually a profession.
Long story short, I began to pursue experience in this profession which led to positions in Louisiana, New Mexico and Oregon. After living and working immersed in the Northern Caribbean culture of New Orleans, the Mexican, Mexican American and Navajo cultures in New Mexico, and then in Wilderness Therapy in Bend, Oregon, I began to see what I have to offer and how I fit into the world. Continuing to pursue my interests and remaining focused on my life’s mission, I moved back to the Southeast in 2009 and began pursuing a Master’s Degree in Youth Development Leadership through Clemson University. I learned the science behind adolescent development and why the programs I had worked with had been so effective in promoting Positive Youth Development.
After attending graduate school, confident in who she was and focused on her goal to create a program she’d wished for as a teenager, Aimee moved back to the one place she swore years ago she’d never return—Hartsville, South Carolina.
Dreams became reality in 2015 with the founding of Cypress Adventures. The 501(c)3 exists to “educate and inspire independent students to contribute positively to their communities and to become effective leaders for 21st Century democracy.”
They utilize experiential education, outdoor adventure and peer mentoring to strengthen socio-emotional skills, workforce readiness and civic engagement in adolescents. Cypress Adventures also offers team building and other professional development services for businesses, agencies and youth serving organizations.
At Cypress Adventures, we bring together diverse groups of middle and high school students to learn and grow together. We provide experiences that allow teenagers to explore what is interesting and meaningful to them in a space where each individual knows that they matter, knows that they belong, and knows that they have many strengths to offer the world. The experiences teach healthy communication, emotional literacy, critical thinking, anger/stress management, and conflict resolution.
I have brought everything that I have learned about the importance of self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationships, and pursuit of meaning to help youth to remain resilient in the face of inevitable adversity. We ask hard questions of our students and actively listen to their perspectives without judgement. From there, we empower them to create the world in which they want to live. From my experience with the young people we serve, the world they want to live in is a beautiful, peaceful place where open-mindedness and curiosity outshines the fear and ignorance that created groups like the one I witnessed all those years ago.
“We provide...a space where each individual knows that they matter, knows that they belong, and knows that they have many strengths to offer the world.”
Diving into Aimee’s story has been such a breath of fresh air. It gives so much light into the “why” behind this amazing outreach here in Hartsville. Each “Little Gift” along the way, no matter how negative or positive, has helped guide her toward realizing the vision of Cypress Adventures and now is actively giving “gifts” back to our community.
In a way, I think we are all on a journey similar to hers. We are all searching for our place in this world and although the experience is different for each of us, the desired outcome seems to be akin. Life is not always easy. Sometimes the toughest experiences are the ones that shape our vision and passion for the future.
Hearing Aimee’s story is a great reminder and encouragement to learn from your experiences and use them to give back along your journey. Following her lead, a portion of the profits from each pint of our NEIPA, Little Gifts, will go to help expand the vision for Cypress Adventures. So come grab a pint and help give back!
Cheers,
Zach Riner
Feel like donating a lot more? Want to fund their next adventure? Donate directly at cypressadventures.org.
Launched in June 2020, Cypress Adventures’ $1.3 million capital campaign will allow them to double, triple, maybe even quadruple the number of Darlington County middle and high school students they serve.
The vision for Cypress Adventures campus, which their capital campaign is funding.