Chris' expert selfie of him, Ben, Liza, David, and me at Slow Roll!
By far the best memories that I will take away from this summer will be the time I have spent with the group going out into Detroit and trying new things. The 10 of us seem to constantly be on the same page, wanting to explore, socialize, and make the most out of our summer. Someone is always coming up with a fun idea and inviting every one else in the group me whether its going to the Detroit Institute of Arts like last weekend or having a cookie dough and movie night in our apartment.
My favorite group-initiated event so far is deciding to go to Slow Roll on Monday. Slow Roll is a weekly bike ride through different Detroit communities. The meeting place changes each week, and this week it was at a pub near downtown. We followed Liza as she navigated the busy downtown streets for us as David trailed behind going through a "range of emotions", a little unsteady riding a bike for the first time in several years. We arrived to rows and rows of parked bikes and hundreds of people registering and enjoying a beer before the event. Feasting on huge yummy pretzels, we fueled up before lining up behind as many bikes as the eye could see, probably about 1,000 of us of all different ages and bike types. Babies in roller baskets behind their moms and dads, 1 man on an elliptical trainer bike, many people with big boom boxes, and everyone with big smiles on their faces. The Slow Roll started off true to its name, as we began to move, we all rolled so slowly that you had to put your feet down to not tip over, but then we were off and cruising! As we passed by neighborhood houses, everyone and their grandma was outside and waving to us. Next week, I'm going to send out an email to all of NextEnergy to invite them to join Chris and me. This event showed me how fun and free riding a bike can be, and I'm definitely going to take more advantage of it in these last 4 weeks.
My favorite group-initiated event so far is deciding to go to Slow Roll on Monday. Slow Roll is a weekly bike ride through different Detroit communities. The meeting place changes each week, and this week it was at a pub near downtown. We followed Liza as she navigated the busy downtown streets for us as David trailed behind going through a "range of emotions", a little unsteady riding a bike for the first time in several years. We arrived to rows and rows of parked bikes and hundreds of people registering and enjoying a beer before the event. Feasting on huge yummy pretzels, we fueled up before lining up behind as many bikes as the eye could see, probably about 1,000 of us of all different ages and bike types. Babies in roller baskets behind their moms and dads, 1 man on an elliptical trainer bike, many people with big boom boxes, and everyone with big smiles on their faces. The Slow Roll started off true to its name, as we began to move, we all rolled so slowly that you had to put your feet down to not tip over, but then we were off and cruising! As we passed by neighborhood houses, everyone and their grandma was outside and waving to us. Next week, I'm going to send out an email to all of NextEnergy to invite them to join Chris and me. This event showed me how fun and free riding a bike can be, and I'm definitely going to take more advantage of it in these last 4 weeks.
In addition, the planned enrichment events have been really insightful to getting to know Detroit. Last Friday, we got a tour of Quicken Loans. At first, I was confused as to why we would tour an office building, but boy was I wrong. We walked into a huge office building with a giant fountain stretching from the top floor to the lobby. As we walked around the floors of Quicken Loans, we discovered endless smoothies, popcorn, and other snacks, a basketball court, and a model of Downtown Detroit. In that model, we gazed over Dan Gilbert's expanding territory, covering almost half of Downtown's buildings. Then, we went from building to building and saw the vast departments and different companies that make up Quicken Loans and learned about how the company gives back to its employees and Detroit.
After Quicken Loans, we then all went and saw a Tiger's game! I felt like a native Detroit-er as I cheered them on and learned about their star players. After an awesome victory, we got to stick around for fireworks!
Detroit hats!
At work, it's been most valuable getting to know the amazing people I'm working with. My first week there Gina, Program Manager, treated me to lunch at a yummy near-by pizza place and told me all about her interesting background in sustainability. Then last week, Tim, Director of Transportation Initiatives, took the time to meet with me and ask me all about my background and interests and share his story as well. For next week's blog, I now get the excuse to sit down with Aniela, Manager of Business Development, and interview her to learn all about her background. I'm discovering a strong interest in sustainability and energy technologies working at NextEnergy, and I want to learn as much as I can from the people who work there and their path to how they arrived at NextEnergy.
As I continue to spend more time here, I want to learn more about Detroit and the people that live here. I've learned the most from going out into the community with the group, meeting with co workers and even just talking to Uber drivers. I know if I continue to get out in the community, I'll get the chance to meet some really cool people.
As I continue to spend more time here, I want to learn more about Detroit and the people that live here. I've learned the most from going out into the community with the group, meeting with co workers and even just talking to Uber drivers. I know if I continue to get out in the community, I'll get the chance to meet some really cool people.
RSS Feed
