#009

I am glad to announce I am no longer fighting with my inbox. 

I finally got a response.

And it's a pretty positive one.

If you're new here, I'm participating in the International AI Startup Challenge (IASC). Though it officially starts this upcoming Monday, I began contacting organizations and students last week, asking for help distributing my research survey or connecting me with students willing to participate in interviews.

And last night, I got a response.

This morning, I sat down and analyzed it (okay, maybe not, but you get my point).

UW Bothell Career Services had called my research focus cool and directed me toward three student organizations that could be relevant to my research.

WHAT.

BECAUSE YES, I AM FREAKING OUT AT A UNIVERSITY CALLING MY RESEARCH FOCUS COOL.

You have to have a stone heart not to react to that.

For context, I'm conducting customer discovery for my startup challenge, trying to understand students' experiences presenting their work, projects, and skills online. I'm gathering feedback through a survey and looking for students willing to share more in interviews.

And now, I have three more organizations to contact.

Three.

Do you understand what this means?

MORE EMAILS TO WRITE.

I KNOW. SO EXCITING.

Jokes aside, I'm genuinely grateful to UW Bothell Career Services for taking the time to respond and point me toward relevant student organizations. When you're a student working on an independent project, having someone take your outreach seriously and give you a concrete next step means a lot.

So, if anyone from Career Services happens to read this: thank you!

Consider this my very official public declaration of gratitude. I was going to call it a public apology, but that would be a rather confusing way to thank someone who has done absolutely nothing wrong.

You're welcome for that clarification.

Naturally, I immediately put the email in a label called "Evidence Vault."

Yes. Evidence Vault.

It sounds like something a detective would have in a crime documentary, but I promise I'm not investigating anyone. I'm simply keeping a record of successful or encouraging outreach, because apparently my entrepreneurial journey comes with a digital archive.

And honestly? This response was VERY well timed.

I was genuinely starting to lose hope in my startup. The survey wasn't exactly overflowing with responses, and sending emails into the internet sometimes feels like throwing a message into the ocean and hoping a particularly literate fish finds it.

You research, write, rewrite, check that your email doesn't sound like spam, send it, and wait.

And wait some more.

Eventually, you start wondering whether your email address has been blacklisted by the entire United States.

Dramatic? Perhaps.

Accurate to my emotional experience? Absolutely.

But this response reminded me that outreach takes time. People have their own schedules and responsibilities, and a lack of response doesn't necessarily mean nobody is interested. Sometimes, you just have to keep going long enough to find the people willing to engage.

Now, before anyone plans my victory parade, let's be clear: one encouraging email does not validate an entire startup. I still need to gather responses, understand students' actual experiences, and see what the evidence tells me.

I'm not about to declare myself the next big thing because someone called my research cool.

Although, for the record, I will remember that compliment for an unreasonable amount of time.

But this is still a win to me.

Not because I've achieved the final goal, but because something I was beginning to doubt received encouragement from someone outside my immediate circle — and came with an actual next step.

Wait. That sounds like something I should say when I win.

But to me, it is a win.

And what do we do after a win?

We celebrate.

And then we get back to work.

Thank you again to UW Bothell Career Services for the response and recommendations, and to everyone who takes the time to read, respond to, or participate in my research. Every bit of genuine feedback helps me understand what I'm working toward.

As for me?

Time to get back to writing emails.

My inbox and I are not done with each other yet.

Unfortunately for it, I have a keyboard.