Two blogs ago I wrote about how I wasn’t ready for Challenge to be over. Welp, I’m ready now! That isn’t to say something negative about the program. Challenge has done exactly what it promised. This year has cultivated a passion for the city and it’s people. My knowledge of Detroit and Southeast Michigan has increased precipitously since arriving last year. I have made memories and friends that I won’t ever forget. I’m ready to be done with the program because it’s really HARD. I am incredibly grateful to have been chosen for the program and the opportunity to learn, grow and contribute to different initiatives in the city, but I am ready for some respite.

It’s really hard for me to admit anything is hard because it makes me feel like I’m Charmin soft. However, I don’t think I can front like this year hasn’t been difficult. Challenge gave me the opportunity to work for GTB (formerly Team Detroit) which is a global advertising agency that does the work for Ford. Growing up in the U.P. I never anticipated an opportunity to work at a company as large and cutting edge as GTB or to represent a client as historic and globally known as Ford.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to not only succeed but to exceed expectations in order to take full advantage of the opportunity. The pressure to do well in my new 9-5 was a lot in itself but being a part of Challenge that is only a portion of the load you carry.

There is also the pressure to meaningfully contribute to the Challenge Detroit Fellowship. There were over 800 people who applied for our cohort. Out of those 800 applicants 75 were selected to come down for interviews. During the interview trip while getting to know the other finalists all I could think was “Man, I can’t blame them if I don’t get picked, everyone here is a rockstar.” I really didn’t think I would get chosen, but thankfully I did and that leads to more pressure. Every time I felt down or tired while working I told myself that there were 800 other people that would trade places with me in a second. I wanted to make sure that since I was chosen that I made the most out of this year. The reality is that you can’t get an A+ for everything you do, but it was tough to deal with times when I thought I didn’t do the best or could have done more when I knew there were lots of talented people that didn’t get a chance to work on these projects.

We are also tasked with blogging and documenting our experience on social while attempting to understand and tackle the challenges facing Detroit. It is difficult staying positive because sometimes it seems like no matter how hard you try you can’t make a difference. It can be daunting to stare up at huge issues like transportation and a struggling education system and think to yourself “What can I do that hasn’t already been tried?”

Throughout the year the pressure doesn’t lessen but you get better at carrying the load. You have to approach work at your 9-5 like challenges in the city, it’s the incremental impact you make day to day earning the trust of your coworkers and more responsibility.  As far as making a meaningful contribution to the fellowship I had to learn to trust that I got picked for a reason and a big part of that is my unique background and experience. The best thing you can do is try your hardest to be a good team member and do your best. You won’t always do things right and you will mess up but that’s why you have 30 other fellows, for support and collaboration, so they can back you up or help you find a better route to whatever solution you are looking for. When it comes to the immensity of challenges facing the city and the fellowships mission to help tackle them, change isn’t going to happen overnight. Change won’t happen at all if everyone is too intimidated to try and help. We can’t fix the problems ourselves but we can push for progress in the right direction and even if we don’t make much progress we can make incremental impact towards long term successs.

Like I said, I have loved this year and all of the experiences, learning and growth that came with it, but I am ready for a little rest. I am moving roles and it will be nice to only have one job to learn and one set of coworkers to get to know. Only having to make sure I am on top of the work for one job will be welcomed even if I have to go to regular work on Fridays. Cohort 5 I am totally ready for you to take over Challenge Detroit. It is going to be hard, they call it Challenge for a reason. Keep your head up, stay positive and do your best, because that is all you can do!