An Open Letter to Myself: Some Initial Thoughts

Hello Robert,

It is the first week of what will be hopefully an exciting and fulfilling second part of the summer. This is an open letter just detailing some my initial thoughts, impressions, hopes, and goals I have for the next two and a half months.

Moving into the Wayne State dorms was a smooth experience! I already really enjoy the space and hope to make it a home for the next couple months. I have only explored a little, but I already found a cool lounge space that will be great for getting a little take home work done. I really enjoy the amazing view of midtown and the Wayne State campus:

I think that it is great that I get to live in such a vibrant part of the city. My goal is to really explore and make use of the midtown and downtown areas. I especially think that engaging with some of the summer events and going into some of the local institutions will really help me get to know Detroit and make the most out of my experience. I noticed that I am just a few blocks away from the Detroit Institute of Art! I already did a little bit of walking around the area and saw some really cool buildings! Hopefully I won’t be too tired after work to do some exploring.

Adjusting back to life in the United States (after my trip to Beijing, China) by diving head first into work at my community partner is actually working out far better than expected. I am already loving my office and the staff seems more than friendly and supportive! My supervisor is a young woman named Kirsten who seems more than equipped to support my ideas and keep me engaged throughout the summer. I am very excited to work with her! After touring the community, I am really inspired and hopeful for the coming weeks. Seeing some of the community members and local businesses really has made me love the small business model and makes me confident that even in the little time I have at the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (GRDC), that I can make a difference in the community. I recently was able to go into a really cute coffee shop called Always Brewing Detroit. My boss told me the wonderful story of how GRDC helped the owner start this business. On my second day I went back and ate lunch there and bought a coffee! It is a super cute place, and the owner’s story really inspired me! Hopefully I can help continue GRDC’s initiative with helping start these amazing places!

I really want to help the company in their goal to develop some of the businesses in the area. I am already helping to develop a survey that we will be sent out to local businesses, and I am really excited about the data that we are collecting. I already have seen that my non-profit has done so much for the area, and I hope that I can help them continue to help this community. I hope by the end of the summer to put on some sort of community event with the local businesses. I am not sure what that would look like, but I really want to capitalize on the tight community and some of the newer businesses in the area. If I can help create just a little momentum with the businesses, I think I would be more than happy! I also want to help GRDC by giving them a more permanent model to help create these events in the future. My goal is to be able to leave something behind to help them engage more with businesses! Generally, I have a lot of hope and enthusiasm for the summer. I think that with the resources that my company has, that I can have an impact on the community. My hope is to continue to engage with the community and to really help it grow in any way that I can!