If you happened to watch my application video to Challenge Detroit you know that my parents grew up in the city.  Their connection was pretty much the focus of my video because my relationship with Detroit was a rocky one.  Like many, I knew as much about Detroit as I knew about engineering (an irony you can appreciate since my Challenge Detroit host company is DSM) or bull fighting.  Fortunately, the history and story behind Detroit fascinated me.  Listening to my parents talk about the things they remembered really got me excited when the opportunity for Challenge Detroit came along.

The program was perfect.

It finally gave me a chance to connect with the city the way my parents did and join all the others who are trying so hard to make Detroit a modern, thriving place. I moved into my apartment in August (with pretty much the best roommate ever) and haven’t looked back.  This isn’t to say that everything has been peachy keen and Detroit is this magical land where nothing goes wrong or happens.  On the contrary, I’ve learned a ton in the four short months that I’ve been a Detroit resident and that’s where I am going to start this blog…with the things I have learned.

Detroit is unique.  It’s problems are unique, it’s successes are unique.  The opportunity I have to experience this uniqueness provides me with a glimpse into the things I thought I knew, things I didn’t know, and things that have been reaffirmed ten times over.  This blog is going to focus on the stuff that I’ve learned living in the city (the good, the bad, the strange?) and I hope that it provides readers with a different insight into a place you maybe thought you knew.

It also comes with fun pictures, like this one of other fellow (and roommate) Betsy Berens and I.  Remember how I said things aren’t always peachy keen in Detroit? Betsy’s love for the Green Bay Packers is one of those flaws that we choose to overlook here…

By the way, this picture was taken at Lefty’s, a fun place to watch the game or just hang out in Midtown.