Last Friday was the conclusion of our last group challenge project. As I sat back and listened to my fellow fellows share their reflections, it began to hit me that my year as a Challenge Detroit Fellow is near the end. This year has been an amazing journey thus far but I do not want my entire Challenge Detroit experience to pass without me taking full advantage of all that the program and the city of Detroit has to offer. There are 3 goals that I want to accomplish before the end of my fellowship:
- Leave a lasting impact on Detroit
Challenge Detroit has given me a unique opportunity to work with chosen community non-profits while gaining valuable work experience. Now I have the opportunity to give back to the community in my own way, through my own impact project. For my impact, I will be working with Larry Latimore and five local community stakeholders to launch a hashtag campaign named #ProudDPSAlum. This campaign is for Detroit Public School alumni to encourage and motivate current Detroit Public School (DPS) students by posting their name, what DPS school they graduated from (open or closed), their profession, and encouraging words they have for current DPS students that are where they once were. This is needed because there are so many DPS and Education Achievement Authority (EAA) Students that have not met successful professionals that have come from where they have. Hopefully this project will be a way to meet DPS/EAA students where they are and show them that they do not have to give up on their dreams. They will be able to look at people who are from their same community and others that are living examples that dreams do come true. This will also influence change in the perception of Detroit by showing the world that people who graduated from DPS are successful and thriving throughout the world. I hope that my impact project will leave an impact on Detroit’s youth in a dynamic way that will last a lifetime.
- Visit at least 3 places that I haven’t seen in Detroit
Although I have lived in Detroit majority of my life, there are places that I have never seen. For instance, I have never been to the Motown Museum. It is time for me to rectify this. I need to get out of my office and my apartment and see all that Detroit has to offer while the weather is permitting.
- Build a lasting network
Due to me leaving Michigan to pursue my education, majority of my professional networks are outside of the state. I have made some progress in the last 10 months that I have been in Detroit but I have not gone out into my community to get to know people in and out of my field. I want to utilize this the time that I have left in the program to get to know other stakeholders, other attorneys, other young professional and many more people in the city. I hope to have at least 5 more people in my network by the end of August.
By achieving my goals, I hope to maximize the time that I have left in my Challenge Detroit fellowship. I also hope that the things I do this summer have an impact that will last a lifetime.