Through this Fellowship, I have learned how much my leadership is affected by my past. In working with my coach, I have unpacked how some of the experiences I had early on in life made a deep impression on me and led me to the work that I do today in the community. I have also learned that some of the trauma I experienced can be triggered by situations today. Fortunately, my coach has helped me learn how to better manage the feelings that come up in these situations so that I can be a more effective leader.

During this Fellowship, I have also gained even more appreciation for the ability to gather in person. Before the pandemic, I sometimes took it for granted that I could be in community with people in the same space. Now, I truly appreciate and relish every moment that I'm able to be physically present with people in the community and how it can make our communication and work together easier and smoother.

I feel so fortunate to be in a community that supports me as a leader and to be surrounded by amazing people who motivate me to keep going. The past few months were very rocky, but there were so many people--including other Bush Fellows--who went on walks with me and helped me think through these thorny situations. They helped me reflect on my strengths as a leader and encouraged me to call on others in the community for support. I feel like I have been gifted with such inspiring words of wisdom. I am grateful to have their support, and to have completed a very large milestone over the past month. Now, I'm trying to pay it forward and have already starting to mentor others on my experience so that hopefully their own journey will be less rocky than mine.