New Beginnings in Urban Planning

I’ll be the first to say that there is no set timeline for your life. It has taken me many years to realize that I make decisions really slowly. My first college experience was at Otis College of Art and Design; I was convinced I wanted to be a video game designer. I quickly realized, however, that my passions lay elsewhere. I began engaging in sustainability on campus, trying to figure out how to solve our community’s environmental issues. After two years at the wrong school, I decided to transfer to Lewis & Clark to pursue a degree in ENVS. Coming in during the pandemic was hard enough, let alone the fact that I was a transfer student. But the classes I was taking felt so engaging to me, and I was happy that I could finally study something I was interested in.

Deciding my capstone project happened early (a rare moment of quick decision making), I felt compelled to sink my teeth into the complicated problems of the Lewis & Clark parking and transportation situation. After working on that project, I realized that I was more interested in urbanism and social problems than I was in conservation or activism. Graduation felt like it came too soon.

The next few years were spent trying to build a new routine and figure out my next steps. Up until then, my life had been defined by the academic calendar. I was suddenly a fresh new person in the world, feeling somewhat lost and without community. I wasn’t quite sure what sort of career I wanted to pursue, and my first few attempts felt like they weren’t the right fit. I spent a lot of time meeting people from different urban and transportation backgrounds, learning about their histories and what brought them to the jobs they had now. It took me two years to feel confident about my interest in urban planning and policy. For a while I felt a bit of imposter syndrome, but what I learned from all the various people I’ve met is that there is no set way to get to the job you love.

I’ve recently been accepted into two urban planning programs, one at University College London, and another at University of Amsterdam. I have a lot of thinking to do about which program will be the right fit, but I am so excited to begin this new chapter of my life. I am so grateful to the ENVS faculty for creating a program that allows for such breadth of interest. My advice for current students: there truly is no set path. Take your time and don’t feel rushed, you’ll get to where you need to be!