During the Welcome Retreat in September, our Director Kathryn, mentioned a phrase that would stick with me to this day.

“Remember, the pressure is off.”

I laughed at first. It felt wrong to accept this phrase. I had just come off putting in my two weeks at my corporate finance job after two long grueling years. Now I'm 25, living in a new city once again, and considering becoming a teacher (I think). In summary, life has recently been full of “What are you doing?” questions from everyone. How can the pressure really be off? 

When people asked what I wanted to get out of the Fellows program this year, my answer was always the same: I wanted to truly feel God’s presence in my life – not just mentally know He’s there. Naturally, I assumed that would happen through more intentional quiet time, prayer, or through involvement at church, but God had a different idea: feeling His presence through my dependence on Him. 

I began this journey with a 10-hour drive from Memphis to Charlotte, filling that time with music, podcasts, and audiobooks with no real end in mind. One particular podcast stood out to me in a way I wouldn’t realize until much later. This episode was on the topic of prayer, in which the guest spoke about a woman who had a close, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus. She said she developed that relationship by spending two hours a day walking in the woods, just talking to and spending time with God. When I heard this, I remember thinking, “That sounds great, but I don’t have that kind of time in my day”, then I carried on with the drive, not giving it a second thought.

I moved to Charlotte on September 1st to join the Charlotte Fellows program, and since then have met a plethora of people connected to my experience as a Fellow and to the larger community at our partner church, Hope. The number of people rooting for, supporting, and excited about me and the other Fellows was not something I expected.

Putting my thoughts into words has always been difficult for me, so when I was asked to write about the ways the Charlotte Fellows Program has impacted my life, I was left at a loss for words. How could I possibly articulate how just nine short months after graduating from college have changed the way I have lived these past six years? Though I entered the program hoping to figure out how to live a meaningful life in the “real world,” I left knowing that true meaning comes from living a life that has been radically transformed by the Gospel.