Hello Ali,
You have had a great week at the Focus: HOPE Community Development department. Your supervisor, your coworkers, and the community are incredible. They are joyful dedicated individuals.
The highlight of this week was meeting program managers who have given you insight to their work and the challenges they encounter. You enjoyed these meetings because the project managers presented their work with their personal stories attached. You already see that you will learn so much from them in the next nine weeks. This is a different kind of learning experience, you are not being anxious about your Econ 101 grade all the time.
The following are advice that I think you should stick to Ali: Firstly, your suggestions and ideas have gone through grilling critique in the first week and they will go through many more in the coming nine weeks. Don’t be discouraged by that, just continue to integrate feedback and develop an understanding of what exactly the best next step is. Secondly, always think big, make the purpose of your project to be as impactful and as helpful as possible. Lastly, be unassuming and very observant because there is a lot to learn and unlearn.
Only one week in Detroit has proved to you that citywide revitalization is so intricate, so unpredictable, and the approaches to it are controversial. The paradox of the situation is that the investments aimed to improve the city, its living standards, and reputation, has deepened imbalances and did not substantially make improvements felt by everyone. Understand that paradox and what is relevant to it in the coming weeks.
As always, have fun!
Ali
Hey Ali, this post is filled with great insight and advice. I am going to carry the advice of not letting critiques discourage me as I start my first week at Focus: HOPE this week!