Missy Frankil

With the onset of the pandemic and residual tumultuous events, this year I chose to shift my coursework to focus on strategies for thoughtful and meaningful engagement where possible. I found this to be imperative as I witnessed how quickly issues arise when communities have little to no agency over their own assets in the event of a crisis. In this setting, I began to think critically about what it means to be a planner in this context. Going between course work, the real world, and the real world + a "typical" planning job, I landed on a stance that my role as a planner must be to abdicate the role of planners generally. As I move forward, it is my goal to bolster the communities I work with and deliver to them- to the extent which is possible- the wherewithal to realize a world better suited for them, their needs, and their wants.