Trey Holsten
I technically started my Fellows journey in late August when I arrived at the “Frat House” that all of the guy Fellows are living in this year. Upon arriving to the house I quickly realized it will be the nicest house I live in for a very long time. My mom, who helped drive me down to Raleigh from Richmond, was amazed by it. While not everyone had arrived, I was already excited that we would all be living together. And later that night the guys in the house were teaching me to play Catan so I felt the closeness of the group early. The next night we all got Mexican food and got to ride in Stephen’s Tesla that can’t turn well but does go fast. Over the weekend, the rest of the guys living in the house arrived and we all got to know each other. We played lots of basketball, Catan, and Xbox. We got to know the girls that weekend when they came over to our house to play volleyball, visit the pool, and just hangout.
Later that week we got to know people at the church and then headed off to Lake Gaston, a place close to my heart. For the next couple days we would get to go through the Fellows policies, devotions, and really just get to know each other better. It was apparent within the first day that the group got along really well. We continued to grow closer and share many laughs throughout the week. I am very thankful for who God placed in the program this year. I am sure we’ll get tired of each other at times but ultimately I think the group will be awesome. Later in the week we took the boat out and even passed Camp Willow Run and saw Luke and Nic, my friends from camp. It was a good day and an amazing week!
The next week was a week of many firsts. The Saturday night after our orientation retreat, we had our first dinner with our host families. My host family, the Patels, were so fun and right away I felt at home in their house. I am very much looking forward to being with them every Tuesday night for dinner and also talking to Alpesh, my mentor. Later that week I started my first day of work at Turas (T-U-R-A-S). Tyler is my manager and he was great at teaching me about what Turas does and what I would be doing for Turas. He quickly began teaching me how to do sales calls for them. Gentry is also working there and has helped me immensely get acclimated. I am worried I could struggle at times with cold calls and all of the rejection in it but I think being surrounded by a group of coworkers that glorify Jesus in their work will help. It is amazing to see a company that incorporates faith into everything they do. Thursday, we had our first round table and Ashley and Sam shared their testimonies. I am so glad that Ashley is running our program and I hope that I can someday have a relationship similar to theirs. On Friday morning I shared my testimony first and was very happy with how it went. It was a bit shorter than everybody else who has shared but I still think it went well. The first week was a great start to the routine.
Since then we have settled more into the schedule of the program. We stay very busy throughout the week but I believe that is something I will continue to appreciate it. I love that even when we have free time we are trying to do activities together instead of just staying home. These activities have included Monday golf at Knights Play, a trip to a Durham food truck, an observation deck in downtown Raleigh, and a trip to the batting cage. And whenever anybody in the group is going to do something they are excited to invite the rest of the group. I truly think this is going to be one of the best communities I have ever been a part of.
Over the next month I hope to continue to grow closer to those in and around the program. I hope that God can help guide me to my best place in Turas. I also hope to meet with my friends that live around Raleigh regularly and develop those relationships too. If every month is like this first month it is going to be a great year in the Raleigh Fellows Program!