Detroit Rulez

As we reach the 8.5 week mark, only 10 work days remain for us here in Detroit. Only two and a half short weeks from now we will all be finished with our projects (I hope!) and ready for whatever plans we have lined up for the next phase in our lives. As time passes, I am sure we will all hold this experience dear in our hearts, if not for the incredible opportunities it provided us for the challenges that we faced and the way we were forced to grow as people. Many of us are just getting to really, truly know what it is like to live in Detroit for the first time.

But we’ll be done here soon.

It would be easy to continue on our paths and just go wherever life takes me next, whether that is somewhere else within Detroit, Michigan, the United States or anywhere else my heart draws me (Brazil???). I could leave all of this behind, thankful for everything that I received from the community and content with all that I gave to them.

However, I am still just a freshman (at least at heart), and I will only be a short drive away in Ann Arbor over the next few years. I hope more than anything that I can contribute to the community here and do my best to create positive change in this amazing city while I am able to. I will continue to volunteer weekly in Southwest Detroit (if you’re free Wednesdays from 2-5:30, consider joining me!!!)  through the Detroit Partnership and I hope to maintain some sort of relationship with DHDC, although honestly committing myself to trying to gain employment there (and stay) long-term would be quite stressful for me. I also may be able to implement some other programs starting this year at Cesar Chavez High School, like financial workshops provided by the city councilwoman’s staff. I also want to try to create more partnerships between organizations involved in Detroit, like the DP, this research program, Semester in Detroit, Crowd 313 (shout out to Noor) and any others that I don’t know about

You can see that I have some plans in the works, which right now are pretty preliminary, but I don’t want to just leave this city behind along with its residents (shouts out to the auto industry).

It’s easy to talk; harder to act.

Let this blog post serve as a statement of my intent.

PS thank everyone in this program for being awesome (I realize it’s not over yet).