Heyyyyy Blog,
For my last blog post, I wanted to thank a few people who have made this year as formative as it was. First our teachers and the time that they each put into our classes this year, the Fellows Committee and all of the hard work and planning that they put into making our year run smoothly even before most of us moved to Raleigh, all the parents and loved ones who supported us both financially and emotionally/physically us this year, and finally a thank you to Ashley and Sam who we truly couldn’t do the program without. Their hospitality, intentionality, and care for us and all those before us is something that I can speak for all the Fellows in saying we are truly so thankful. There’s not really an “on-the-clock” when you have Ashley’s role as she truly is there for us at all hours and goes above and beyond the expectations of a director.
Now, I’ll say a little more about my personal experience this past year and a few things I’ll take away. To start for those who don’t know, my plan in the Spring of last year was to go to grad school for Occupational Therapy, I was like yeah that’s where I’ll be and that’s what I’m doing. But, I ended up getting waitlisted from my top schools and made the difficult decision to put a pause on grad school. So, I started thinking about potential “gap year” options and I had a friend doing the Greensboro Fellows Program and so, I took a deep dive into researching the different programs and loved what Raleigh had to offer and really knew I wanted to be here after interviewing with Meg and Taylor and talking to Ashley on the phone.
Something that has been really cool and definitely a God-sighting for the year is how the Lord still led me back to OT and now I’ll be going to the school I wanted to go to last fall/spring. It was like God said not yet.
With that not yet, I was able to see through the career and calling retreat along with other personality assessments and gift-based assessments in addition to the encouragement from the other Fellows and Ashley that the gifts I possess align with that of an occupational therapist. That passion was reaffirmed.
With that not yet, I was able to work at Refugee Hope Partners and find that I have a passion for working with Refugee families and will hopefully return to that post-grad school.
With that not yet, I have had an incredible host family experience. I’ve had the opportunity to see how Robin and David’s marriage is a beautiful representation of the Gospel and how Christ loves the church. They have both supported me in various ways throughout the year such as Robin staying up with me until after midnight to edit my grad school essays and David bringing me back cinnamon rolls from different work trips because he knows they’re my favorite. Always waking up with freshly brewed coffee with enough for me to drink, that will be missed. Endless conversations where Robin has been so patient to listen to the hard and the good and offer me support in any way she could. She’s always eager to hear about my day and almost always ends our conversations by asking if there’s anything she can do for me. I have felt an immense amount of support and encouragement from these two. They both have gone above and beyond the requirements of providing a place to lay my head and making sure there are groceries for me and I could never express all of my gratitude when seeing how God so perfectly intertwined our lives, I’d be here all night.
With that not yet, I got to meet my mentor Rebecca. She is encouraging, thoughtful, intentional, wise, and a wonderful friend. Rebecca never made it seem like mentoring was something she signed up for and had to do, but that it was something she enjoyed doing and wanted to support and care for me as best as she could. I’m so grateful for that relationship.
With that not yet, I had Mallory as my Fellows buddy who has been an encourager and someone I could go to with Fellows questions since the beginning.
With that not yet, I got to start therapy and work on becoming a better version of myself, prioritizing my mental health and improving my well-being.
With that not yet, I have been able to learn so much through the wisdom of our teachers and the different retreats we have had the opportunity to go on, my Fellows journal is FULL of takeaways!
And with that not yet, I have had the opportunity to do this program where I met some incredible strangers who very quickly became some of my best friends. The ways in which this group is able to go from silly/goofy whether that’s doing a spontaneous cake walk at round table or breaking out into song at any moment to deep and vulnerable conversations is beautiful and something I really look for in friendships. Despite having 7 girls and 2 boys, this group never felt exclusive or split, and I really feel like we all loved one another well and acted as a unit. Meg, Linda May, Gabi, Gretchen, Maddie, Virginia, Bunner, Simas, and Ashley, you have grown to become some of my best friends and are people I know will be in my life far past this year, thank you. This year I have had the chance to make Raleigh a forever home, and somewhere I will always want to return to, so, don’t worry. I’ll be back.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with me!
Peace and Love,
Girl Hunter 💕🤠✨🪩