Before Week 1:
Predeparture Lessons and Prep

July 8, 2016

Before I start my Fellowship in Chicago with one of Project Rousseau’s site partners, I will be traveling to New York for a week of training and to begin the work I will be doing for the next couple of months. Project Rousseau is an organization dedicated to changing lives. Their mission is to help under-served youth reach their full potential and pursue higher education. I will be helping to create the schedule for the upcoming academic year by researching different activities for Hyde Park Academy high school students related to Project Rousseau’s four pillars. These pillars are Academics, which includes SAT and ACT prep as well as other classes to be offered to students; Community Service, where I will be looking to find and schedule a weekly service opportunity for the first semester; Broadening Horizons, which includes different activities students can sign up for and participate in around Chicago, with supervision. The last pillar is a mentor/mentee program. I will be looking into University of Chicago and other institutions in the Chicagoland area whose students might act as mentors to the Project Rousseau students.

Before my fellowship even began, there were many things that needed to be done prior to my training in New York. This process has taught me a lot in just a couple of days. One of the first things I learned is that I am not always going to be given all the information I would like to have, rather, I will be given the information I need and the rest will come over time. This was something that was very difficult for me to accept, as I get anxious when I do not know all the details about what I will be doing. As time went on, I got more comfortable not knowing all the information, and only knowing the immediate, pertinent information.

I have also learned a lot about communication, I learned that I will not always get answers to my questions right away, as everyone is involved in many different tasks that need to be accomplished. I have also discovered more about the difference between everyday communication and professional communication. I have to be more careful and precise with what I say when working with several different individuals from new organizations, especially via email in order to keep the communication flow going, something I am less experienced doing.

All in all, before my experience has even begun, I have learned more than I ever anticipated, and have grown immensely. I can tell this experience is going to be a great one for me, and am beyond excited to begin my journey.