Urban Fellows - in summary...

Our graduation ceremony was really special at the City Hall Council Chambers with the mayor and many other community representatives. It was great to see everyone's hard work come together and hear everyone's presentations about how much was accomplished but also learned this summer amongst the twenty of us in the program. It was definitely tough to learn about all the urban issues. You have ideas for change, get inspired by something you read, but end up feeling disappointed when you find out change isn’t as easy to implement as you had first thought. It all sounds easy, doesn’t it? Community organizing? Block party. Bamn. Problem Solved. But it’s never that easy. And that’s just how the world works I guess. Real change comes when you truly give it your all, put your heart (and a lot of sweat) into it.

It's been a few weeks since the end of my program but I thought I've sadly put off making closure long enough. Before this summer, I didn't really consider the city of Rochester a great place to live and only came into the city for touristy attractions, like the famous Strong Museum of Play or the Auditorium Theatre where my dance recitals were every year. There is so much more to Rochester than I had realized and this summer I was really exposed to the depths of Rochester's unique and complex histories, which I thought I knew already. I had no idea what an urban issue truly was and how they are so intertwined with one another with no easy solution.

It’s truly the people the make the city. Spending time in the neighborhoods, I learned that the personal connections you make to the surrounding community have the greatest impact in determining the kind of environment you live in. I interacted with various people on a daily basis, all with ranging perspectives and walks of life. Bringing everyone's unique positions together often creates hostility but can truly be beneficial having different perspectives.

At times it didn’t always seem clear, but I think that my biggest accomplishment this summer was getting to know such a diverse and complex community. Every person I met, every story I heard, in a way helped me learn about the urban issues at hand. As public organizer Michael Gecan explains in his book Going Public: An Organizer’s Guide to Citizen Action, “Our democracy was founded and forged by women and men who were quirky and complex but profoundly relational. It may be that the very habit of building public relationships is part of the human constitution of a vital democracy, just as the habit of thinking and reflecting is fundamental to our ability to make ethical and moral choices” (31). Before you can fight problems, you truly have to understand them. This is something that I will be able to carry with me as I encounter people, conflict and life lessons throughout Rochester and beyond.

And now for some pictures of Urban Fellowing :)

A group of us at the Lilac Festival (Katie, Liz-roommate!, Michelle, Me)

Lilac Festival again! This time we were volunteering with parking but got to enjoy the festival too (Mahlet, Liz, Me, Katie)

Once again, a picnic at the Lilac Festival (Michelle, Me, Katie)

Late night walks through Mount Hope Cemetery (apparently totally normal, which I should be used to going to school in Gettysburg!)

silly candid shot at Lake Ontario Charlotte Beach (Liz, me, Griffin, Katie)

Feeding chickens at a farm!

Some of us at Rochester's Clean Sweep (Griffin, Lupe, Cedrick, Alisa, Julia, Liz, Me, Katie)

successful pyramid!

Our group after we picked up trash outside of East High School in the city

Visiting Schoen Place by the canal in Pittsford (Katie, Pendle, Liz, me)

Liz and I at poster symposium before graduation

More friends before the ceremony (Griffin, me, Pendle, Lupe)

At city hall for graduation (Julia, Katie, Priscilla, me)

The whole group after we all gave our presentations

silly picture of course!

Some of us outside of City Hall before our graduation














Regretfully, I now cross this adventure off my list. Next up: Gettysburg College for a week long internship in the Admissions office next week!