I did not expect that my fellowship would end so soon! It’s just very fast. I still have fresh memories of flying from Kigali International airport to JFK and a warm drive to Yale University for Global Health Corps’ training institute like it was yesterday. Retreats for quarter one and two were normal and I thought I still had plenty of time. The midyear retreat was among the best, travelling to Uganda’s King Fisher Hotel was fun. Learning to swim for the first time and swimming on my own without any help was super exciting! During all the retreats I did enjoy the studies, but mostly the recreation part was more fun.
Quarter three’s retreat revealed more of hidden factor: the fellowship is ending. I felt this was more like family gathering and I did not want to separate from the other fellows. The thought, “Once a fellow always a fellow” kept resonating in my mind and kept my hopes high about keeping in touch with all the lovely fellows. I liked the discussions in general for Q3 but the “Minding your Gap” and personal narrative session by GHC staff member Jess was remarkable. From discussions about Minding the Gap I realized the need to grow in global health and serve the most in need with many more skills than what I have today. Since my childhood, my desire to support those in need has kept growing; the fellowship has been a vehicle towards my dreams. Jess’s discussion about minding and managing the gap, left me well equipped knowing where I am and where I want to go in the coming years. Jess, Eugene and I broke into a small group (Jess, myself, and Eugene) and discussed the personal narrative end of year presentation; it was great to hear their ideas and comments. I am confident that my end year personal narrative will be a killer presentation. Wait for it!!
