Hello! 

Week 2 of working at The Overwatch Partnership taught me the importance of time management. For my second week, I was working as a camp counselor at an Ohio State music camp while also balancing remote work at my nonprofit. There were times where these two commitments overlapped, and I felt very overwhelmed. It was during this time that I remembered one of my favorite quotes by M. Scott Peck. “Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” I knew that I needed to take some time to take care of myself in order to do both jobs functioning at my highest, so that is exactly what I did. I spent one night pampering myself by doing skincare, listening to music, and meditating. After that night, I was ready to do both jobs as best as I could. For my second week, I sat in meetings that my boss Eric led. One example was sitting in on a meeting to plan the upcoming annual golf outing that OWP started doing last year. Another meeting was strategic planning. I did not realize how much work goes into running a nonprofit. I find it amazing how everyone on the board works part-time for OWP, and still has time to make the organization a priority. During week 2, I emailed the board members about having short Teams calls with them to interview them. I would ask them questions such as “How did you get involved in Overwatch” and “What is something you’d like to see from me as a fellow this summer?” Eric was the one who gave me the idea to interview each of them. He has stressed the importance of making connections this summer and learning from those with much more experience than me in different fields and topics. 

During week 3, I got to meet with a couple of the board members who responded and interviewed them. I met with Grant Burden, Jon Rust, and Mike Rogers. They each told me about their backgrounds, how they got involved in Overwatch, goals they had, and what they were looking for from me to do this summer. Their insight was very encouraging for me. I now know what people are expecting of me and I am determined to be as helpful as possible! Tomorrow, the fellows are going to see Rick Ross with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. I am really excited to get the other fellows more and spend time with them at a fun event. On Sunday is Overwatch’s golf outing. I will be there from 7:00am-3:00pm. It will be a lot of work but I’m sure it will be a very pleasant experience getting to know veterans and running the silent auction booth. I am looking forward to giving this fellowship everything I’ve got! 

Until next time, 

Kindall Benjamin