The beginning IS a very good place to start...

If you’re reading this, you probably already know who I am, what INDEV is, and why I’m writing this blog. But I thought I’d make my first blog post (ever) about all those things… partially because it’s probably a good place to start and because it helps to write down what you’re doing with your life and why every once and a while.

I always knew I cared about world issues and wanted to do something about poverty, but I never really considered it as a career. My high school offered a co-op program called ICE (here’s a link to learn more about it: http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=SCI000001). The program gives students the opportunity to live in a host family and work at a placement for 3 months in Ecuador, South America. I heard about the program and I was a little hesitant to apply for it at first. It sounded like an amazing experience, but 3 months is a long time to be away from your normal life! Even though none of friends even considered doing the program, I decided it was the path I wanted to take, even if it was an unpopular one. Before I left for Ecuador, I attended info meetings, classes with the other students in the program, and did assignments for the program. Not to mention working 2 jobs to pay for the trip AND regular school work. I left my family on the day of my flight excited but nervous as I’d ever been in my entire life. Was I going to fit in? Was my Spanish up to par? Would I like the family I’d be staying with? Would I be able to handle teaching English to 4/5 year olds?

The experience truly changed my life. I think the biggest thing I learned was that being poor doesn't mean being unhappy. It seemed every Ecuadorian I meet was very happy with their life, even though they lack the material belongings that you and I would associate with happiness. I realized that the poor are not a problem, they are a solution. They have incredible potential and a caringness I’d never seen before. So, needless to say, when I got home after those 3 months, my plans to go back to high school for one more year and then become an airline pilot went out the window.

Within my first two weeks being home (which was the beginning of June), I started looking at university programs that dealt with the issue of poverty. I told my parents it was just for fun at first… just to see what’s out there. I read about Waterloo’s INDEV program and loved the environmental aspect of it. I convinced my mom one day to go on a campus tour with me, and I was sold. I got accepted the end of July. It somehow worked out in the end, and I was in classes that September. From the start, I felt part of a great community that the program creates and I’m so happy I made the decision to join INDEV.

 Since I started university, I’ve realized my passion is really in urban and environmental issues and how they affect one another. My friends still joke that I should have been in the Planning program. I think I’m interested in urban issues because cities are the future of every society, everywhere. Our world is becoming increasingly urban, and with that comes challenges of how to control the environmental and social problems that come with cities. That’s why I want to write this blog about initiatives in cities around the world that are dealing with those environmental and/or social issues, and why they work or don’t work. I want to start a conversation about what we want the cities of the future to be and how we can get there. I want to see cities that are more more equitable and sustainable (whatever that means…), and I plan on devoting my career towards that goal. What about you?