Phase I - Lets Hurry up and Wait (The Brazilian Way)

After the leaders training we jumped right into selecting our Fellows through an application and interview process.  I wanted a team that was going to be flexible, adaptable and supportive as well as operate as one unit yet bring their diversity into the mix. Most importantly I wanted a team that was going to impact the students and embrace this new experience.  We were going to create a lot of this together as we were the first Global Leaders site to launch and this was sort of a pilot to see if the model worked.  The pressure was on to put a fantastic team together and yet I had never experienced the program to know how to select a great Fellow for it.  I had to trust what knowledge I had and in my international experiences.  I just jumped right in and thought -  here goes nothing!

The interviewing process was not hard, except for a few interviews I did parked on the side of the road in my car, on skype over my phone.  Dang Denver traffic just did not allow me to run to a meeting and get back in time between interviews and one fellow was calling in from Asia and up at like 3 am to make this interview happen.  I just did not want to miss her and I am glad I didn’t as she turned out to be an awesome Fellow on my team. I would soon learn that Denver traffic was like a joy ride compared to traffic in Brazil.

From there we started Phase I of the program: 8 weeks of distance learning through Facebook and Google Hangout with the Brazilian students.  It was a totally new experience doing assignments and building relationships through social media but over the course of 8 weeks it truly worked.    We had many laughs, many awkward pauses, technology that froze and friendships that were starting to form.

One of my favorite moments of the 8 weeks was the 2-day weekend workshop where my entire team came together in Denver to learn more about the program, expectations of our 4 weeks in Brazil and start building our team. It was a fun weekend of many games, laughter, conversation, lesson planning and eating.  Meeting the team for the first time I was surprised with how tall or short Fellows were as our Google Hangouts everyone seemed to be the same height. :P   I felt ready for Brazil and I was excited to be traveling with such a diverse group of people for 4 weeks and yet I still felt nervous as I was not entirely sure what to expect.