I still don’t remember exactly how I found information about Atlas Corps, organization responsible for bringing talented people and leaders from different countries to participate in a fellowship in the United States, possibly I just found info about them in some website or Facebook. When I made the decision to fill out my profile and wait for a possible organization interested in me, I never imagined it would be so fast, in a few weeks I had an interview and in a few months I had been accepted and was ready to sign my contract.
My family and friends were surprised, especially by the fact that it was not a job offer, I would not have a salary and it was difficult to explain that the motivation behind all this was the experience, in addition to the fact that I was helping to improve a social issue.
That’s how almost 16 months ago, I started my experience working for Solstice, a startup based in Boston Massachusetts, since I read about solstice I was very interested in the work they were doing to promote solar energy in the United States, in my first days at work I found myself with the pleasant surprise of being surrounded by a great group of people, passionate about their work, they made me feel comfortable from the first moment, the work turned out to be more demanding than I thought, but I like challenges so with hard work a couldn’t handle it. A normal fellowship has duration of 12 months but I decided to extend it for 6 months (something I would never have imagined doing) but without a doubt Solstice and its cause are worth it.
Of course, it was not all work, I met many people, from my local ambassador to whom I appreciate a lot, work colleagues, roommates, fellows and friends that arise along the way. I found people who changed my way of seeing things, some surprised me positively and others no that positive, but that’s what life is about, I get the best of each experience.
By the moment I write this blog my last days of this experience has not arrived yet and I already know one of the questions that everyone is going to ask me before I leave, is there something I regret? The concrete answer would be, yes and no. Of course I made mistakes that I would not have made, for example things I did not do or did not say, I invested a lot of time in things or people that are not worthwhile and stop doing things that surely would have been worth much more, but above all I am happy of what I have lived in these months and for that reason I can not complain.
I do not write this to tell future fellows how your time will be here, because each experience and each situation will be different, what I can say is that it is a unique experience and the best thing we can do is to take advantage of each moment, do everything (or at least what is possible) to do during this time, which certainly changes your life.
