In about three hours I will be leaving for the airport and it still doesn’t feel quite real yet that the next day I will be in the States. Ever since I received the acceptance e-mail from ICMA, it has been a whirlwind of activities; trying to prepare my office for my impending long leave and at the same time working through the pre-departure tasks for the fellowship. It hasn’t been easy juggling deadlines and assignments round the clock, but the excitement and the exhiliration of actually becoming a YSEALI Professional Fellow helped power me through all that and more.

Now that it’s finally time to start my Fellowship, I can’t help but ponder how the coming 5 weeks will change me. Will the people I am about to meet show me a different way to look at life and challenges? Will I be able to show them a different perspective? Or maybe we will simply discover that regardless of our background and geography our challenges are similar and there’s a way we could find a direction to move together.

Whatever is in store for me, I welcome it with open arms. Here’s to the start of an exciting 5 weeks!