I did it! I realized it last week! I finally did it! It has been my dream since high school and I’ve been working towards it for the past 10 years.

I have a career, not just a job. I have a career that is so much more than a job. I would do what I do for free (I mean not really, but you know what I mean). I do it not just to earn a living. I work outside working hours, I read books, periodicals, and publications on relevant topics in my free time, I think about it while I eat, drink, and workout (in the healthiest way possible), and while I travel, people watch, and explore.

I am an urban planner. It is who I am, how I self-identify, what I do, and the lens through which I see the world. It is how I think, what I observe, who I talk to, and as my husband and close friends will confirm – it is what I talk about (like all the time). It makes traveling with me slightly challenging.

I love cities, and I could study how to make them work for the people that live, work, play, give, and lead in them all day long. I could observe how people interact with each other in them for hours.

I have so many questions and a lot to learn, but I am very excited about it.

Over the past 10 years, I have had at least 12 jobs, spent six years in school, been part of countless boards, clubs, and organizations, taken almost every kind of career assessment or personality test out there, and went on more “informational interviews” than probably most people my age. I have done this all in the quest to find that thing, that thing that would satisfy my curiosity in the world, that thing that would hold my attention for the rest of my working years, that thing that could be consuming. Well I did it! I found it!

I think you can to, most probably can faster than me. It is worth the search, it is worth the time and energy spent exploring options and taking unusual jobs, because the reward is great.

Challenge Detroit helped me get there and I am very excited to continue my urban planning journey in the city when the Fellowship ends in August.