This first week has been a whirlwind of change for me. Moving into an apartment for the first time in my life, saying good bye to my family who I am so used to living with every summer, and starting work at a non-profit organization for the first time. This last weekend and beginning of this week has certainly worked as an open door to a seemingly endless flow of change for myself, as I embark on this summer of adventure in this big city full of bright lights.

The apartment living is one that is entirely new to me, but I am enjoying it thus far. I am used to living in a family sized house, with a yard, neighbors, and with all my younger siblings running around providing an endless supply of distractions and laughter. However, I am now finding myself in a two room apartment with a new roommate. My neighbors are the rest of my cohort who live in the building over, and instead of a yard we have a river and canal to explore. This is a great change for me, but one that I am excited about, nonetheless. On Sunday we all got brunch with a former CAPS fellow in the city at a place called “Wild Eggs,” which creates amazing breakfast food ranging from breakfast burritos to French toast. We went to a fun store called “Silver in the City” which sells things ranging from environmental books, sterling silver jewelry, and the most ridiculous looking socks in the world (that everyone seems to want). I am used to summer activities with my family such as beach day, walks in the neighborhood, and grilling out. However, these activities I have embarked on so far show that a large portion of my summer will be spent exploring the city, trying new places to eat, and finding stores that sell weird socks. All alongside my Indy Cohort. This range of activities that we will and have already embarked on, show how different this summer will be for me. Make no mistake, however, I am very excited for this change and new adventure that is right in front of me.

I also began work with a non-profit for the first time this week. The Kheprw Institute works with low income communities with things ranging from cooking skills, education on social capital, to assisting other non-profits to carry out their missions more effectively. Traveling to this institute displayed (quite quickly) that this city can transition almost instantly to from a beautiful, well-trimmed college campus with shopping and modern looking buildings to a neighborhood crammed to the brim with small houses in overgrown yards; in strong need of assistance. This showed me that the areas where our skills are needed are not always in the inner city, across borders state borders, or across the sea. They can actually be a 13 minute car ride from your home. This institute (thus far) has shown me that there are many different ways we can assist our communities, and they can be much closer than we may think at first.