by Ty Slobe

The thing that I am most thankful for this year is the opportunity that I’ve had to work with the amazing SPARKteam these past few months. I made this SPARKturkey to express my gratitude. The finger-feathers outline the reasons why I am so lucky to work with you all!

Creativity: I love how uniquely creative all of the SPARK girls are, and how SPARK itself allows everyone to flourish and embrace their own talents and voices. From blog topics, to poetry, to collages, to hilarious tweets, to the ways that you come up with to deal with serious issues…basically everything each of you does is creative in a way that makes me excited to be a part of SPARK. We’re all just like little excited flowers that blossom in the most creative of ways when we collaborate on an idea together.

Young feminists!: One of the biggest reasons why I am so excited to work with all of you is because as one of the older SPARKers who is in college I don’t get very many opportunities to work with anyone much younger than me. Let alone young feminists! You are so unique and I am thankful to have access to your enthusiasm and insight because it rubs off on me and I spread it all around my campus too.

Media takeover attack!!!: I would be excited to be friends with and work with you all even if we were only confined to the privacy of our own Facebook group. We’re not though! Every time I see a new SPARK post, something that one of you has published in the Huffington Post, a new article in Rookie, an interview with Ricki Lake, a segment about young feminists on TV that you are featured in—basically you guys are everywhere so it is hard to keep up—I get SO EXCITED. Who better to change the negative media discourse that sexualizes girls than girls themselves? Nobody. And that is exactly what you all are doing, taking control of your own representation. It is so completely wonderful that I cry about it sometimes.

Sassiness: You guys are so sassy! No SPARK girl lets anyone tell her what to do, how she should act, how she should dress, who she should be. SPARK girls fight back, and they fight back with wit, humor, intelligence, irony, and in-your-face sass. I love it.

Encouragement and support: Sometimes I hear people say things like, “if you get too many strong personalities together nothing gets done because nobody can agree,” and I think to myself that those people have obviously never seen the SPARK girls at work. We are able to achieve ridiculously awesome things through teamwork, collaboration, and by encouraging and valuing everyone’s opinions and ideas. Not only that, but you are all so supportive of one another when it comes to both personal issues as well as projects. There is nothing but good vibes flowing out of each of you toward one another. The SPARKteam is the best, most efficient, most creative, and most enthusiastic team that I have ever worked with because of each of you are so committed to encouraging and supporting one another.

Happy Thanksgiving SPARKteam, SPARK family, and SPARK fans!