Live, Work, Play, Lead, Give.
Live, Work, Play, Lead, Give.
Live, Work, Play, Lead, Give.
These are the tenants of the fellowship experience that is Challenge Detroit. When our year began as fellows, we were bright-eyed and curious about the grand experience that awaited us. We knew that a considerable aspect to our experience would revolve around some type of leadership development, of course our challenge projects, volunteering time and our commitment to our host companies as young professionals.
Throughout the year we have been challenged (excuse the pun) in a variety of ways. Whether in our careers, or the fact that some of us relocated to a new city without knowing a single person, or that for some this fellowship was their first career job out of college, whether it was trying to find time to play and explore among other things, such as networking, being social and remembering to eat a decent meal and drink enough water, we have been resilient enough to this point to be able to reflect on the experience with a bittersweet sense of pride.
As the year begins to wind down, I personally have begun to spend more time doing things that I have always enjoyed doing, specifically things that I used to spend more time doing prior to the fellowship. For me, that has been leisurely writing, poetry stories and songwriting and recording music. As grateful as I am for the experiences gained this year, I am also very appreciative to find my way back into a good place to spend time doing something I love, it brings me balance.
The reason I felt the need to highlight this is because amidst challenges and the adversity that comes with it, we can sometimes lose ourselves while our attention is focused on discovering ‘the new’. With so many new happenings, people, places and things hitting us all at once, it is a beautiful thing to still find yourself through the fire as the ashes begin to settle. Coming full circle, I am grateful for the experience and I am thankful I didn’t completely lose myself. In fact, I feel that my experience in Challenge Detroit finds me ready to take on the world as a more refined, improved version of who I am.