Greenville Forward Thinking Creating Community Conversation to Inspire Change

Last night, I participated in the opening session for PULSE’s Pacesetters Program. I am delighted to do the program this year so I wanted to share some of my experiences along the way. First of all, if you are not familiar with PULSE, as a young professional it really is a must for networking, building friendships, and learning about the Greenville community. You can join for a minimal fee ($50 for Chamber members) and the benefits are far-reaching. Even in the past three years that I have technically been a “young professional,” I have seen the program grow exponentially. Some of the best features of PULSE include the annual Hangar Party, the socials, leadership luncheons, and I am also looking forward to the new program — PULSE Sports. But perhaps the most valuable program that PULSE members enjoy is Pacesetters.

The Pacesetters program seeks to bring together young professionals in the Greenville Community with mentors, leaders in the community willing to share their experiences, build connections, and offer advice. The participants are broken into groups of 10 and each group has two mentors. We will meet with our group and mentors on a monthly basis, with 5-6 group development opportunities for everyone participating in the program.

Last night, we met at the Upstate History Museum to learn about the program, meet  the people in our mentor groups/group leaders, and participate in some team building activities to get to know each other better. I am really glad that I chose to do Pacesetters at this particular point because meeting new people and building friendships is a new challenge after being in school where your peer group is automatically created for you. It definitely took a year or so to find my “real life” groove.  Now that I have grown confidence, lost some of my shyness, and learned how to get to know people faster the experience last night was far more enriching.

I am already looking forward to connecting with more people my age, learning about their experiences, and learning more ways to plug in even further to the wonderful community we have here. If you want to learn more about the program, check out their website: http://www.greenvillepulse.com/programs/pacesetters/.