There were two big reasons I wanted to work in Detroit this summer. First, I was attracted to the pride that people had in Detroit. There is so much history in Detroit that makes each neighborhood unique. I don’t consider myself to have a hometown. I say I am from Iowa, but I only lived …
So this week, I have started preparing for the end of the program seminar where we will all present our projects to family, friends, and coworkers. Naim and I have decided to write a slam poem together and preform it for the seminar. When first coming up with this plan, I hadn’t realized the kind …
As I look back at my first post, I think that I have accomplished all I set out to do. During the first week I didn’t feel like I knew anything about my project or much about EcoWorks, but now I feel like a really became a part of the community here. Going in I …
Having expectations tends to be a losing bet. Maybe it’s a source of pessimism, but going into a situation with high expectations hurts an experience. We can’t control all aspects in our lives, and having expectations as though we do only causes frustration and anxiety. My expectations for this program ten weeks ago were…well, I don’t …
As I begin to look back on this summer I believe that I have gained some major keys to having a successful DCBRP experience. Luckily, for those of you reading I don’t mind sharing. 🙂 Go into your community with respect, you must understand community members know what their needs better than you. Wednesday trivia …
Re-reading my first week’s letter which was full of exclamation points and excitement was a little bit cringe-y, but it was all true. I was eager to live and work in the city. My goals were to get a good start with my career in education policy, get a taste of adult work life, and …
I think a large portion of my time in Detroit other than my job and the people in my program has been impacted by my life group. So my life group is pretty much a bible study group (through the church that I go to in Ann Arbor, a lot of people come to Detroit …
Reaction: I wrote that short poem about the first week. I am glad that I stuck it out to the end. It’s your first official job and you’re three days in. You want to quit but you’re gonna make it to the end. This is your city and you’re so close to home. Remember that …
The beginning of Wale’s song starts off with George from Seinfeld saying “I don’t want hope; hope is killing me. My dream is to become hopeless. / When you’re hopeless you don’t care, and when you don’t care, that indifference, it makes you attractive.” The song is about the sense of hopelessness in people’s life’s …
As everything I have done this summer is coming to an end, I have to think about what I have accomplished and how I feel about it. -Being an advocate for my community.- This is something that I know I am going to continue to do. I hope that I continue to fight for the …
