my experience @ the explore fellowship

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on a new topic daily, and send it to your inbox. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in! you reading this is keeping me accountable, so thank you for that. as a treat, i drop cool resources/opportunities at the end. 💌 

btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: my explore fellowship experience 🎙️

i don’t think i’ve ever made so many close and meaningful friendships in such a short amount of time as i did at the explore fellowship.

for context, i’ve spent the past week in kent, conneticut at a campground with 55 other social good x tech driven 16-18 year olds as a part of the fellowship. btw, there was minimal reception, and yes, i did write each of my daily braindumps in a cabin at like 6am for the past few days.

at explore, i structured my own days using the many possibilities laid out in front of me. some mornings i co-worked with friends at the dining hall, and others i soaked up the sun by the lake. during the day, i tuned into different discussions and lectures on topics ranging from software for humanitarian emergencies to how to make friends on twitter.

or, i didn’t!

sometimes it was paddle boarding or extremely competitive table tennis matches during the day. then, we got together for dinner and gathered around a campfire to have deep conversations and reflect. then came the random spontaneous stuff that teens do: stargazing, climbing up bouncy castles we aren’t supposed to climb, and having just dance parties. we were able to suggest different sessions we wanted to experience during the experience, and had the freedom to initiate them too. i had the freedom to curate an experience that would bring the most value to me. 👷‍♀️

i truly took control of my own learning, but most importantly, i internalized that learning isn’t just for the mind, it’s also for the body. i appreciated it when aaron, our fellowship director, pointed this out. it was at that moment around the campfire when i realized that i was nourishing my body, mind, and soul. my head isn’t a vessel that needs knowledge dumped into it, my experiences and exploration build on top of my knowledge and become something i can share with others. i learned through discussion, through sharing and through being relentlessly myself.

as a result of this culture of sharing a wealth of experiences with each other and valuing each individual for it, i entered a space without being overly conscious of how others will perceive me for the first time. i didn’t dwell on winning the "social game” or finding my perfect group of friends. i was able to express myself and challenge others’ views without the fear of being hated. in fact, i found that these friendships formed more authentically since i wasn’t hyperfixated on it.

i can confidently say that i gained everything i wanted and more out of the explore fellowship: becoming comfortable with myself and having challenging conversations.

typing this out on my flight back home from the fellowship, i’m filled with a lot of gratitude for the people that made this experience possible and filled it with so much love, joy, and learning.

thank you to sierra for our fireside life story chat. i was able to let go of a lot of internal conflict and was extremely inspired by your journey with education.

thank you to my late night dining hall we’re not really strangers besties, you know who you are. 💌 my favourite moments from the week always involve you — from fighting to reclaim a paddle board to sustaining (multiple) injuries on the dance floor.

thank you to sean (boomer) for always injecting the space with your infectious energy. you inspired me to start letting go of feeling embarrassed, and live for the moment.

and of course, thank you to aaron for bringing us all together. thank you for showing me that truly, life is sweet, love is free and that we all live in abundance. 🫂

i’m so excited for what’s to come with my newfound energy, and an even stronger love for life (didn’t think it could get even better). i hope to see next year’s fellowship filled with even more initiative, connection with nature, and a way to channel this desire to solve problems into tangible action.

can’t wait to be a part of the explore fellowship’s perpetual growth! 📈

cool finds of the day 🔍️