Last Post – Detroit Community-Engaged Research Program

Last Post

Hello All,

My first blog, like most of anything I do that is self-reflective, was very inspirational and spoke to being a better version of myself. I can say that I have learned a lot of soft skills and picked up on the skills necessary to be successful in the work of community/economic development within a neighborhood. For example, when my supervisors engage with people in foundations seeking help on a project or bringing an idea to life, they are always in a conversational tone that does seem hyper-professional. They can do that because of their long-standing relationship with those people and the trust they have built over the years. In the process of seeing the necessity of relationships, I have grown in my ability to be teachable. I have learned how to listen more than I speak and engage when I have adequate knowledge of the topic. It is good to talk and show that you have picked up things from others instead of having a facade of knowing it all. This opportunity has met my expectations and exceeded them in all aspects. I have gained invaluable knowledge of Detroit and its landscape while being able to understand the stages of a business and how it gets itself from an idea to a storefront. I have realized that this work is not how I would imagine spending most of my career, but I do want to affect change in the same impactful way my supervisors have been able to do for years.

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