Detroit is a sprawling city. Because of its decline, Detroit is also pretty vacant. Places to go, whether for groceries, movies, or anything besides art are few and far between. What I’m getting at is that Detroit is not a city you can walk in. It was built for cars. I probably would not get to see much of it if not for my placement.
An unexpected advantage of my placement, Detroit Public Schools, is that we travel to most of the schools. This wasn’t in the program description or anything. In fact, I was a bit disappointed in my placement because the program was described as having no interaction with the community. It just so happened that, over the next few years, DTE, the major electricity provider for Michigan, is taking over and replacing the PLD grid in Detroit, which is city-owned electricity. Furthermore, this year, they are doing a lot of the site evaluations for Detroit Public Schools. I don’t necessarily get to talk much to the community, but I do get to see a huge chunk of it. And as we drive to each of the schools, my boss Emile gives me mini history lessons on the parts of Detroit we’re going through, which is great. I’m also getting to see more of the city by tagging along with my co-worker, Charlene, to restaurants and, once, her church. I feel very fortunate to have gotten such a great placement for learning about and exploring Detroit, especially considering that I had never even been in Michigan before this year.
Also, I may have written this and forgotten to post it…Whoops.
That is an amazing aspect of your placement! I know working and living in midtown has me feeling like I’m not seeing all that much of Detroit (though I’ve gotten to know this little neck of the woods very well!) I’m fortunate enough to have my car here, so I try to branch out when I can, but it’s not easy! Even my “branching out” at this point hasn’t taken me too far from home base. It’s also really great that you get to explore with people who are knowledgeable of the history of the areas your traveling to!