But it was definitely a year we will remember. As Chair of the program for 2020-2021, I set out in January with the intention of providing this class with the same experience I had in 2019 as a Pacesetters Class member: an experience that enhanced both my professional and personal life. I still connect with my peers and mentors from that year and they have supported me in more ways than I can count.

What initially was a strong start to our year in late January’s Open Session, quickly turned into the question so many of us came to face at some point in 2020: “What now?”. The Greenville Chamber Young Professional Advisory Council and Programs Committee was extremely supportive and instrumental in helping me shift gears to still provide value to this class despite the obstacles we were about to face. With a class just under 45 mentees, 10 mentors and community leaders stepped up and continued mentoring and leading given the new challenges. Mentor groups got creative with their virtual programs and although group-wide events could not happen in person like they normally would, we still managed to have two virtual Skills Sessions, a socially-distanced outdoor service project in August, and a year-end virtual social in December where we gave the class an opportunity to cross-network with other groups in the program.

While this year was not the year we had planned, I believe there were still many takeaways from the program, albeit slightly different than the takeaways I had one year ago. One of which involves rolling with the punches. Everyone in the class of 2020 had a choice as soon as we moved to a virtual format: you either jump in or out. I’m proud to say that most people did jump in and they are taking away more from the program than those who did not.

In December, I am proud to announce that we welcomed 40 new class members for 2021. I’m particularly proud of this number because 40+ people applied to this program - despite everything going on -  to better themselves professionally and personally. All during a global pandemic. I think that’s pretty great and I am excited to apply what we learned in 2021 to make next year’s class an even stronger one.

I’d like to give another big thanks to the GCYP Advisory Council, Programs Committee, Pacesetters Mentors and Mentees, and The Greenville Chamber for supporting this wonderful program.

Cheers to 2021!