This week, we met with Nell Anderson which was very interesting and engaging. She talked to us about our project and was extremely invested in what we had to do, but she also had great words of advice for moving forward with this fellowship. One thing she said to us which was extremely helpful and sort of restored the vigor and excitement I initially held for this project is that everything new we begin, is foreign and unfamiliar at first, but the more we engage and participate in it, the more important it becomes to us, and the more involved we become with it.

This was not a miraculous discovery but it was so true and fitted to my experience thus far that, that it really resonated with me, The first few weeks of this fellowship were great but there were points where I was unsure and frankly a bit unenthusiastic, I was discontented with not being on the ground but throughout the following weeks, this mind set has changed quite a bit.  I’m not so afraid of everything not working out and I think this has given me more courage to suggest projects that are really ambitious but could also take unexpected turns.

As our fifth week comes to a close, I’m filled with emotion, mostly excited and at ease. At this point in the game, the half-way point that is, I feel like I have a better grasp and understanding on what is expected and what direction I want my projects to go in. This being said, I am still nervous and unsure of how the projects I come up with during this phase of the project will go, but am ready to finish the next half and put those fears aside.