Multiple times this week I had sobering moments of realization – I am drifting very closely to the end of this fellowship at Ohio Humanities with the Columbus Foundation. I’ll save most of the emotions I have experienced and the wisdom I have gained for next week’s final blog post, but it’s important to acknowledge how far I have come already in the invaluable connections I have made and the skills I have learned as a result of this incredible fellowship.

This week was significantly less productive for me since I have had a cold – I was only in the office on Tuesday. This is okay though since it is so late in the internship and I only have been focusing on finishing up my final project since it doesn’t make sense to begin another project now. I have been working on my postcard project that entails sending donors from the past two years a postcard celebrating the anniversary month of their first donation – I will be queuing them up to be sent out monthly through February, save for November and December so there is no communication interference or overload with Ohio Humanities’ year-end campaign. I have been receiving feedback from coworkers and professionals who have lots of experience in fundraising and philanthropy to make the resulting text and graphics as effective, succinct, and aesthetically pleasing as possible. It was interesting seeing a myriad of contradicting opinions on the matter (for example, there was debate on whether a QR code linking to the organization’s donation page should be included – it was decided there would be). Seeing different opinions about the same specific material and language was valuable for me because there is certainly going to be times in my upcoming career where similar situations occur and a combination of respect, digression, communication, and decision-making will be necessary to utilize effectively to come up with the seemingly best solution.

While I am not looking forward to the end of this fellowship and time with my coworkers at Ohio Humanities, I am very much looking forward to my future career. I already have one option lined up for immediately after my fellowship thanks to networking and am working on applications and interview practice for positions I am seeking in Chicago, where I plan on moving in January.