The past two years was an amazing journey and it was a transformational journey for me. I started the fellowship with big hope and excitement. Initially, I wanted to do everything such as travel and complete my education and take leadership courses. I had to adjust my plan based on reality. Instead of a short course in leadership, I decided to focus on my education and complete the course work before the end of the fellowship. In order to achieve my goal, I had to take two or three courses every session and that was why I was able to complete the course before the fellowship ends. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, but that was the only choice I had.
I had a long time dream to go back to school for my doctorate degree, but because of lack of financial I had to postpone it for many years and I was excited when I received the award. The course work is completed, but still, I have to do my dissertation which I have to wait until my exam is finalized. The written exam has been completed, but the second phase is the oral exam and I am waiting for the oral exam.
Two years ago, I began my fellowship by visiting cultural business districts such as Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Little Ethiopia, and others to learn about the intersection of art and culture on economic development strategy. Visiting these cultural business districts gave me the opportunity to see and learn how art and culture impact economic development. Also, I was able to hear stories from the community leaders and some of those stories were painful. As I tried to develop my understanding about the impact of art and culture on economic development, also I was able to hear and learn some of the painful stories that some of the cultural business districts had to face. While I was able to travel throughout the fellowship program, the majority of my fellowship time was spent on school. I am grateful to receive such amazing support to develop my leadership capacity through education and experiences. Some of my best experience during the fellowship was attending World business Forum and doctorate education. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Bush Foundation for investing in me that has transformed my leadership capacity. Also, I want to thank the Bush foundation’s team who has been supportive and encouraging throughout the fellowship.