Hi there, my name is Austin Gray. This fall will be my senior year at The Ohio State University pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Logistics Management at the Fisher College of Business. This summer, I will be working as a fellow with Leadership Columbus.

I’d like to tell you that I had an easy and laid-back first week where I could ease my way into the feel of things, but unfortunately I can’t do that. As my title suggests, I was more thrown into the fire with everything that went down this week. I just so happened to join the team during one of our busiest weeks of the year. On my second day at work, Tuesday, June 4th, we publicly announced our new executive director, Kate Bauer, whom I am very excited to start working with this summer. And just yesterday, June 6th, I had possibly the best experience of my professional career I could ever ask. I was lucky enough to be a part of the closing ceremony of Leadership Columbus’ Signature program. You might be asking, “Austin, what is the signature program?”. I could give you a really long answer that would probably lead to me getting sidetracked on a whole bunch of different topics (I’m still trying to process everything), so instead I’ll let a quote from our website do the explanation better than me. The Signature program is “a 10-month civic-minded program designed to give participants the tools they need to become active and influential leaders in the community”.

I showed up in the morning not knowing what to expect at all. First, I had caused a traffic jam at the. main gate of the venue because it wouldn’t open, *sorry to everyone behind me*, until a worker finally opened the gate for us. Then, I got to watch the class present their community impact projects. I was able to learn so many engaging topics related to the Columbus community ranging anywhere from food insecurity to the Amtrak and intracity rail plans to the public art scene in Columbus. Once lunch hit, I didn’t really know who to sit with because my fellow coworkers were busy putting out a fire. It’s kinda like when it’s your first day in the lunchroom and you don’t know anyone. I was gracious enough to land a spot at the table with the Public Art group where I was able to connect with all of them and they even let me go on a nature walk with them after lunch. All the graduates I met yesterday were extremely nice and welcomed me with open arms. After several more individual and team building exercises, it was time to get ready for the main event, graduation!

On just my 4th day being a part of the team, I then got to meet our wonderful board members of Leadership Columbus during the graduation ceremony. It was so impactful and rewarding to be meeting my board this early into my program experience. At first I was nervous to meet them, but I soon realized there was nothing to be afraid of. Each and every one of them personally welcomed me to the team and I look forward to working with them throughout my time here. I could tell they truly care about me being a part of their team and all the work they do in the community.

After a night of celebrations, it was finally time to award the class for their 10 months of exhausting (but rewarding) work. To the Signature Program Class of 2024, if any of you read this, I was honored and am so grateful that you let me be a part of your wonderful celebration. All of you that I had never personally met before, I thank you for going out of your way to make conversation with me and give me an experience I will never forget. To my supervisor and program coordinator, Collin Ries, thank you for allowing me to come to this beautiful celebration and congratulations to another successful year of the Signature Program.

Until next time,

Austin Gray