Reflecting back on this summer, I think I can positively say that I’ve had the best experience of my life. A little context if you’re new here but I’m going into my senior year at OSU studying Logistics Management. I didn’t have too much of an idea what kind of work I’d be doing this summer with Leadership Columbus. By saying that, I knew that I’d be doing work surrounding the 50th Anniversary Celebration in September along with helping prepare for COLA in July. Other than that, I didn’t really know what the tasks/projects would look like. It was tough for me to go through with the fellowship knowing this because I was very skeptical of what my role would look like. What made it more difficult was that I had another opportunity to be an intern in a warehouse learning logistics. I had to choose between an internship that would give me valuable skills related to my major; or a fellowship where I’d be learning the in and outs of a non-profit organization, something I’ve always been intrigued with. Let me tell ya, I 100% made the right choice with Leadership Columbus this summer and here’s why.

I wasn’t expecting to walk out of here with the amount of knowledge, guidance, and connections that I’ve gotten while being with Leadership Columbus and the Columbus Foundation. I’ve always had some leadership qualities growing up but I was never good at stepping up or having that confidence to be a leader. I am so so grateful to have worked with Leadership Columbus and the Columbus Foundation this summer. It was exactly the boost and guidance that I needed to feel confident about going into my senior year. Being in an organization that strives to create better leaders, how could you expect me to not walk out of here at the end of the summer feeling like a better leader, I mean C’mon. I learned so much through our program days about my own personal growth and felt myself becoming my confident about my work or stepping up when needed. Even the work that I got to do in the office was still very enjoyable. I barely knew anything about non-profits walking in here so I thought everything my team assigned to me was interesting. I was just happy to be of help to be honest, I love helping others and I guess that’s why non-profits have always been really cool to me because of the work that is done.

All the different tasks that I’ve had this summer really let me broaden my skillset which I’m very grateful for. I’d much rather have a very wide skillset because who knows if I’ll still be in logistics in 10 years. Getting that experience this summer in a warehouse would’ve really helped me gain the skills I’d need if I continue to do that work, but would I have gone through this personal growth journey and feel the way I do now? My guess is probably not. I feel so much more comfortable and confident about my future having attained the skills, knowledge, and connections in the various industries around Columbus. I am so thankful for to Dr. Lomax and the Columbus Foundation for giving me this opportunity to do this work this summer, it truly opened my eyes to the possibilities I have in the future. I am also extremely grateful to everyone on my team at Leadership Columbus. They have welcomed me in and made me feel like a part of their family. They truly care for me and want me to succeed. They have pushed and guided me this summer to become the strong, confident leader I am now at the end of it. Also, a thank you to the Leadership Columbus community which includes our board members and past program participants for letting me connect with you and to be such a wonderful resource.

If you’ve made it this far in the blog, I really appreciate the support I’ve gotten this summer. I’m someone who can express what I want to say while writing it out than if I were to try to say all this out loud to someone. I wanted to take it seriously so I can look back at these blogs and watch how I grew over the course of these 10 weeks. So, for one last time because I don’t know when I’ll write a blog ever again, thanks for tuning in!

-Austin