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Annie is an Urban Education and Outreach intern.
“The future is in your hands” — so goes the saying I have heard many times throughout my life. And although I believe it every time I hear it, I really felt that way at the MetroFuture working session that I attended on June 27th.
The purpose of the working session was to discuss the options and possibilities for the growth of the Metro Boston area through conversation and cutting edge technology. Keypads, for example, to me were one of the highlights of the event; using them made me feel like I was part of the “ask the audience” lifeline in Who Wants to be a Millionaire? But instead of being quizzed on random trivia, the audience at this meeting was answering questions that carry with them great impact. For example, “What mix of housing types should be built in the Inner Core and in Regional Urban Centers?”
When they posed these questions for the first time at the beginning of the event, I was somewhat intimidated. I didn’t know what the Inner Core was, and I didn’t know how to choose what type of housing belonged there!
But after intriguing discussions about ten questions crucial to the development of the Metro Boston area, I felt much more informed and found myself forming definite opinions about what direction I felt Metro Boston should grow in. My opinions were not always the same as the rest of my table; ranging from a writer for the Boston Globe Northwest, to a member of the EPA, to a man who was not at all in favor of preserving agricultural land (!), there were many different people bringing a wide variety of opinions to our discussions, which made them even more interesting. When we returned to the same ten questions from earlier in the program at the end of the night, I approached them from a completely different stance- not only understanding what they were actually asking but being able to back up why I made particular choices.
Leaving this session, I felt overwhelmed and at the same time very positive. Just as how being an intern now in TFP I have got to see “behind the scenes” of some of the things I experienced in the Summer Youth Program, at the MetroFuture event I learned that growth and development are actually things that are premeditated. They don’t just happen. And I was seeing the behind the scenes planning for these important events. I felt that I really had gotten a chance to dig my hands into my future.
What Annie says is true: the future is in the hands of the youth. I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that they have no voice, that their opinion doesn’t matter. The truth is, you can make an impact– if you involve yourself in today’s issues and do what you can to learn about what is going on in your community. I have already learned so much from Annie, from her involvement with the Food Project this past year, and her work inspires me to learn and do more.
Annie, I didn’t know you went to the MetroFuture project! Mocha and I must have gone the night after you. I want to hear what you thought of it. By now it’s obviously a little far gone, but still, I’m interested in your thoughts on the topics, the setup of the whole night and whatnot.