The last day...

Today was my last day at YAI. I worked at the internet café all morning and when I got back to the office, the staff surprised me with a going away party. They all made touching speeches and then presented me with a traditional Liberian robe as a parting gift. We danced and ate and partied all afternoon—and the press even showed up to cover the event! I thanked them all profusely for the party and reminded them they weren’t going to be getting rid of me this easily because Liberia is part of me now and I will be back.



I am not leaving Liberia until Monday and I still have to finish writing my Fellowship paper, but technically, today was also my last day of the Fellowship. I am not really sure what to say about this year. I am so preoccupied with Jessi right now that it’s hard for me to clear my mind and have any kind of thoughtful perspective on these eventful 12 months and two weeks.
Ultimately, there are different ways to evaluate this year. Quantitatively, I traveled over 35,000 miles all around the world and visit 22 countries along the way. I worked with 6 different organizations and taught 60 students. And I saved at least 1 life.

Qualitatively, the Fellowship year was such a varied experience, with high ups, low downs and lots in between, that it doesn’t seem to do it justice to conclude everything with some perfunctory final sentences. Reading through my journals entries, which are essentially the shortest and yet most profound summaries of my placements, helps to get a sense of what I took from this year. However, I think what matters most is not the experiences of this year, because they are behind me, but what I choose to do with them moving forward and how I will build on this Fellowship experience. As time goes on, I am sure I will gain new perspectives on this Fellowship; the opportunities the program allowed me to develop, the challenges I faced, the insights I gained about my profession and myself, and the relationships I built. Certain elements will likely wax or wane in importance and value to me depending on where life takes me, but one thing I know is that, thanks to the variety and uniqueness of these experiences, the Insight Fellowship will always be a relevant and uniquely important part of my life.