5 Things I Learned This Semester

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays were bright and happy and that you are looking forward to 2014. With the holidays behind us, my run for the day done, and the apartment to myself, I thought I would take a moment to catch up on some blogging.

Rather than ramble on about all the cool things I've thought about after one semester of grad school, I decided I'd give you a list of things I've learned this semester. Some pertain to school, while others pertain to life. It should get you caught up without having to do too much digging.

1). Urban Planning is Tough to Explain
I have been frustrated at times because people don't seem to be as thrilled about what I'm doing as I am. None of that matters of course, because its my passion, but I'm always reminded about how difficult my job will be because there is so little interest. Of course, then I remember that the planning profession is hardly defined and that I barely have an elevator pitch rehearsed much less practiced to get people excited.

Engaging in a conversation about planning usually results in two reactions. One reaction is that people will get a firm look on their face and say, 'good, we could use some planning in this town.' This reaction is always a bit puzzling because you could take that to mean a lot of different things. Ultimately I believe that when a person says that, there is something in their town that they don't really like and think it should be changed. At either rate when I begin to explain some of the things we've talked about in class the person either disengages or steers the conversation to something they want to talk about, usually public transit or pedestrian-friendly downtowns or in certain places the need for limited government and more freedom. At any rate, it makes it challenging to converse.

The second reaction is usually the more common of the two and the one where people immediately look puzzled and decide to ask more about it or simply say, 'well good for you. You like it? Good. Good.' In reflection of course, I'm not sure this is much different than any other job or profession that exists in the world, but the extra challenge with planning is that the profession itself really has no idea what it wants to focus on. I learned that this semester.

2). Urban Planning is About Cities and People
So what is it all about? Lots of things. Planning is about engaging communities to get involved at many different scales in thinking about their city and their place. Planners are trained to think about lots of different factors and disciplines in decision-making, but ultimately, planners are there to help the community make their city the way they want. It is because of this I'm excited to do it.

Of course, the difficult part of planning is that not all planners see the profession in this way. Some will say planning is all about design. Planners work to design spaces and places that encourage community and engagement, but I don't believe we can design our way to a better society. It helps yes, but it isn't the silver bullet to solve our city issues. Some planners will tell you that planners are all about data collection and forming and interpreting plans. Many people who say their town needs planning probably saw a master plan and believe their city needs one. However not all places need a master plan. The planners who believe this is what planner do are generally planners that went through school a few decades before me. In response to the disasters of urban renewal planner became pretty timid and decided that their role was only to enforce a plan and fight developers or the public when one becomes dissatisfied with the other. This kind of planning is boring to me.

I believe and have learned that planning has a real opportunity to make an impact on societal change, and if my classmates have anything to say about it, I do believe planners of the next generation will be focused on societal change, but change that is good for all and decided upon by all. I hope to be a catalyst for community oriented approaches in the communities I serve and believe that my training as a planner will help with this.

3). It's Hard to Blog During the Semester
This is no excuse, but I found it pretty challenging to put words together for this blog during the semester. I tried a few times and found that my brain was so tired I couldn't put anything interesting together. It was usually paragraphs mushed together that made little sense. I promise to do better, but I tell you now that between the reading, the assignments, the search for jobs and internships, and the push for other projects makes it really hard to blog.

4). Running is Good for my Soul
I know many people who would disagree with me and probably just threw their computers in outrage at this statement. I'll wait for them to collect their wits.

I did my best to continue running during this semester. It was tough, but I motivated myself with another race that I'll be participating in this January in Chicago. It will be cold, but it comes with some excellent race goodies and this will be state number six. I am more motivated than ever to work on qualifying for Boston. This means many more miles per week, cleaner eating, and more running. Janel got me a good cookbook for Christmas, which we'll be trying soon, but I also simply need to start upping my mileage. It takes time to do this without injury and it means doing a great job budgeting time.

When I did run this past semester, I found that my thoughts were clearer, I was able to focus on reading and my assignments better, and I had energy to sustain me through the tough times. I sacrificed some outdoor runs when it just seemed like too much work, but I have collected some new gear, including running tights, and I am prepared to go out in any kind of weather. Currently I am at 33 miles per week and I am looking to increase this after the Chicago race. The next state may be far away as I'm beginning to saturate the midwest. More to come on this later.

5). Hard Work Does Pay Off
It's really hard to remember this sometimes. Especially when you do so much hard work and the rewards are so tiny. I don't really care about good grades because I know how unimportant they are down the road, but they are the only thing I really have to show for hard work during the semester. The reality of course is that I have so much more knowledge, awareness, and honestly a deeper way of thinking about things than when I started school in September. This is the true reward.

Beyond school though, the choice of leaving work to go back to school has been difficult. I've had many nights wondering if I made the right choice and if it will pay off in the end. The realization I've made is that it is always worth it. In my old job I would always be frustrated with things not going fast enough, about feeling as though I wasn't connected to a bigger issue, and conflicted about the things I want to do for social change and the lack of attention I felt that my job allowed me to give there. This semester has forced me to think a lot about what I'm interested in and what I'm worried about and has given me new thoughts and ideas about where I want to go. None of that would be possible by playing it safe in the same old same old of my routine. It can be scary, but I've worked very hard to learn more and develop a new network of people and understand new concepts that I have never had to learn before. All the rewards aren't here yet, but I can feel them coming. And I'm more excited than ever about 2014. Happy New Year.