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Share My answers to the Interact fellowship application. And why you should answer them too.
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My answers to the Interact fellowship application. And why you should answer them too.
Over the weekend, I stumbled upon the Interact fellowship.
It is a fellowship of technologists that “come together to collaborate, seek out difficult conversations, and push each other to do good in the world.”
Sounded like a good time!
As someone who slightly missed the age cut off (I am in the age category where applicants are considered “on a case-by-case basis”), I figured why not send in an application for a chance to meet some really cool people.
As I went through the application, I filled out the expected fields (name, email, school).
But when I got to written responses, something unexpected happen.
The questions posed allowed me to genuinely reflect on many cool tech and community experiences I have had in the past few years, rather than simply retelling them in a straightforward and neatly packaged way. In short, if you read my responses, it more so reflects someone who is still figuring out so many things, and having a lot of fun doing so.
Furthermore, I was able to hype up other people in the tech ecosystem who I truly believe in (some of who you see in Cities Decoded🙂).
That revelation, along with my general disdain for the flatness of written applications (how much can you really glean from a person through them?), spurred me to make this quick podcast episode where I could respond verbally and encourage you all to think about what your responses would be to these sharp questions.
TLDR: the Notion community is great and I want to make it greater. Also, elif nisa polat, jonathan bensimon, and magan chin are great and I want to help make them greater.
In short, if you read my responses, it more so reflects someone who is still figuring out so many things, and having a lot of fun doing so.
What I am equally interested in is what responses you have to the following questions:
* Think about your three core interests. Why do you care about these things?
* What has been the biggest change to your beliefs or values in the past two years, and what caused this change?
* Someone gives you $50,000 for a project that explicitly can't be a business. What's the project you work on and why?
* What project or initiative were you proudest of in 2025? What is your primary creative, academic, or work goal for 2026?
* Whose voice should carry more weight in the technology ecosystem (or insert your relevant industry) than it does today?
* Who would you be the most excited to find out was in your Fellowship class? Why?
Want to hear my responses? Watch/listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts!
Deadline to apply to the Interact fellowship is Feb 9th.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samlicitiesdecoded.substack.com
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By Hosted by Sam LiOver the weekend, I stumbled upon the Interact fellowship.
It is a fellowship of technologists that “come together to collaborate, seek out difficult conversations, and push each other to do good in the world.”
Sounded like a good time!
As someone who slightly missed the age cut off (I am in the age category where applicants are considered “on a case-by-case basis”), I figured why not send in an application for a chance to meet some really cool people.
As I went through the application, I filled out the expected fields (name, email, school).
But when I got to written responses, something unexpected happen.
The questions posed allowed me to genuinely reflect on many cool tech and community experiences I have had in the past few years, rather than simply retelling them in a straightforward and neatly packaged way. In short, if you read my responses, it more so reflects someone who is still figuring out so many things, and having a lot of fun doing so.
Furthermore, I was able to hype up other people in the tech ecosystem who I truly believe in (some of who you see in Cities Decoded🙂).
That revelation, along with my general disdain for the flatness of written applications (how much can you really glean from a person through them?), spurred me to make this quick podcast episode where I could respond verbally and encourage you all to think about what your responses would be to these sharp questions.
TLDR: the Notion community is great and I want to make it greater. Also, elif nisa polat, jonathan bensimon, and magan chin are great and I want to help make them greater.
In short, if you read my responses, it more so reflects someone who is still figuring out so many things, and having a lot of fun doing so.
What I am equally interested in is what responses you have to the following questions:
* Think about your three core interests. Why do you care about these things?
* What has been the biggest change to your beliefs or values in the past two years, and what caused this change?
* Someone gives you $50,000 for a project that explicitly can't be a business. What's the project you work on and why?
* What project or initiative were you proudest of in 2025? What is your primary creative, academic, or work goal for 2026?
* Whose voice should carry more weight in the technology ecosystem (or insert your relevant industry) than it does today?
* Who would you be the most excited to find out was in your Fellowship class? Why?
Want to hear my responses? Watch/listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts!
Deadline to apply to the Interact fellowship is Feb 9th.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit samlicitiesdecoded.substack.com