Philosophy

I found myself pondering, wondering where I would live and why. The best place that I knew to find that answer was in the academic field of urban planning. City planning fulfilled my desire to know why people live where they do and why they don’t live elsewhere. I proactively planned for my growth as a kid when considering where I would live in the future, but it was reassuring to learn that others were also proactively planning for the growth and welfare of the very people, places, and things that I marveled over.

I loved the study of planning, but I found it also unfulfilling, learning the problems and issues associated with how the world was and is being developed. I am not the first to study the issues of development and growth, so I became skeptical of city planning’s effectiveness as a metric for how development and growth should be. Why isn’t everything in a perfect utopia if we have the research and data that suggests the best plan for growth? I simply could not plan everything into the perfect utopia. I cannot control the space and capital markets, politics, personal agendas, the desires of citizens, or life itself (nor do I want to). All I can do is capitalize on these life forces and make a better society based on the opportunities that life presents. I wanted to take my knowledge and do something with it; therefore, I decided to pursue the MLPD Program based on its entrepreneurial background with dreams of creating the best, most effective places that are beneficial to all walks of life. I do not have the patience to watch the environment around me change for the better, but I will dedicate my life to forcing the issue.