When I found out I had gotten Challenge Detroit, a part of me felt that I was living in a surreal dream. The dream-like state might have also been because I was sleep deprived from working on my studio terminal project all week long.  On that morning I was running late for a group project and I remember standing in the hallway reading my email and then having to re-read it about ten times before it even sank in – I’m going to Detroit.

To fully understand why this move is so momentous, you have to know a few things about me first:

a.)     Being an architect and working in Detroit are goals of mine that have gone hand in hand since as far I can remember.

b.)    I’m an introverted homebody who loves Wisconsin…moving across the country again in the past two years is a big deal for me.  Moving to a major city – really big deal.

Now as the dust of finishing grad school, moving from Oregon and saying goodbye to a summer in MN has finally settled, I have been thrust back into the wild world of being “new in town.”  This title comes with a series of firsts, as well as new experiences. First time living in a big city, first time making a MI left, first time on a high ropes course, new job at a dream company, new apartment, 41 incredible and inspiring new friends and the list could go on and on.

This title also comes with a lot of fear and doubts: where do I belong in this city, what difference can I make or is it my place to do so, what is my role as a designer in Detroit and the greatest fear of all: what if I fail?

Sometimes self-doubt can be crippling and create a negative environment and the old me might have wallowed in those fears for a while.  However, since coming here I have gained the biggest and best support system of my fellow fellows I could have hoped for.  Being “new in town” still does scare me and truthfully probably always will.  If I have learned one thing from my short month of living in Detroit is that whether you have lived here all your life or moved here from far away, I have never met a community more caring, more loving or more passionate about the place they call home.

I have a lifetime of knowledge yet to learn about Detroit; its buildings, its people, and its communities.  I hope you join me on my journey.