I’ve been a Challenge Detroit fellow for 4 months now.  I cannot believe how quickly the time is going.  It is even weirder to think back to the day that I applied for the first round of the fellowship.  I didn’t think that I stood a chance of actually being selected.  It is surreal to be living it now.  It’s a good reminder for me not to take this experience foregranted.

I know that as the year approaches an end, I’ll remember this time period – when I still had so much of the Fellowship year left to go.  I’m sure I will reflect on how well I lived the experience.  My hope is that I will be able to say that I immersed myself in it – that I got to know my co-fellows, that I did my best at my host company and in the challenges, that I tried a lot of new things and pushed myself to go to events, even when I was tired. I’m relieved to know that I still have time to make the fellowship what I want it to be.

Another reflection I have about this topic is that my acceptance into this fellowship has shown me that  I am capable of being accepted into the programs I apply for.  While it always seems like someone else will “get it” (my feeling throughout my Challenge Detroit application process), we really can be the people who get selected.  I am going to do my best to remember this lesson as I continue to apply/try for things.

So, thank you Challenge Detroit – for seeing something in me, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of all of the cool things the fellowship has to offer and for inspiring me to be optimistic about my future endeavors.