Justine--Final Blog Post

Justine—Final Blog Post

To everyone reading this---we made it. I can’t believe the end is today. I’m having a hard time processing that I am writing these words, and that this is the final blog I will post.

At the beginning of this academic year, the WomenNC Fellowship program was a pipe dream. Today, my sophomore year of college is over and I am sitting in my own home reflecting on the Fellowship I not only received, but thrived with. It seems fitting that today would be my final blog post, but the year still passed all too quickly.

It’s a real challenge to try and list all of the ways I have grown and benefitted from this project, partly because the list is almost too long to write. It is also challenging because I truly believe I haven’t even begun to reap the full rewards of this program yet. For the sake of having reflective content on this post, however, I will do my best.

-My voice no longer shakes when I stand to speak. My words do not waver, and confidence rushes forth, not fear

-I have solidified my commitment to women’s rights in multiple capacities, from preventative reproductive healthcare to human trafficking

-I have visited the United Nations. I have walked through the doors, I’ve met with dignitaries, and I’ve kept my cool, and had the chance to hear firsthand about projects I have longed to be a part of for years

This is certainly not an exhaustive list. The good news is that all I have completed doesn’t cease to exist the moment I post the blog. I can only grow more from here, and the connections I have made and researching skills I have honed will stay with me throughout the rest of my academic career.

                                                                                     

All that’s left to say now is thank you—and I fear this space here online simply isn’t enough to express adequately how grateful I am to the entire WomenNC community for affording me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Always, 

Justine