I applied for a grant. Sounds easy, right? I thought so. Two weeks ago was the deadline for the initial proposal. I had been meaning to get to one of the information sessions all summer but time had gotten away from me. So, when I saw on our family calendar "RACC proposal due" and happened to have a couple of hours of time that day, I thought that I might as well give it a try. I was surprised when a few days later they sent an e-mail of congratulations. My initial proposal was accepted. Now what?
I glanced over the application and realized that if I really was going to go for it I had a lot of work to do. I needed to figure out what exactly I wanted the project to be (the initial proposal was really brief and somewhat general). I wanted to make sure there was really was a need for the project in our community. I had to figure out a budget that included costs for space rental, workshop fees, promotional materials, and administrative costs. I can not do this alone! I needed to find a team to work with. So, I started to talk. "I'm applying for a grant." I'd say. "I want to host a workshop on design thinking."
Luckily, over the past two weeks I was invited to be a part of two educational experiences where there were other like-minded people. The timing really could not have been better. When I told Michael about it he said that he was hoping to host some kind of workshop next summer as well and Brittany is just all around passionate about design education, so she jumped on board without hesitation. I also approached my sister to get her expert advice having hosted many design thinking workshops and written many grants. "Go for it!" she said. "Why not?!" She also proceeded to give her advice about the target audience and her hesitation about the scope of the project. But in the end, she gave me just what I needed to push me along, her support.
I turned it in at 4:44pm yesterday afternoon (16 minutes before the deadline and only 10 minutes after getting support images from both Michael and Brittany). It was a relief and an accomplishment to just get it in! I was so glad I have a few people to bounce ideas off of. At times I thought that there was no way it would get done. Other times, I felt like I had the perfect idea only to realize that there was no way that idea would possibly work. But my favorite moments were when I was talking to one of my fellow team members and we were both thinking "That's it!" "We are on to something with that idea!"
And we are. Now we just have to wait until December to see in the Regional Arts and Culture Council agrees.