Reflection Blog

Asher Forman
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
9 May 2020
Reflection Blog
     Through my participation with my city regarding the problem of bike lanes in Houston, I have learned a lot about civic engagement. One of the things that I learned is that civic engagement as a high schooler takes a lot of time and persistence. This is because many of the organizations you are trying to work with or people that you want to contact in your city will ignore you and not take you seriously. Many people think that your ideas about a certain problem or task are not worth listening to considering you are in your teens. However, this is where you have to not give up or be discouraged. You have to constantly keep bugging the person that you want to contact until they give you a chance to talk to them so that you can learn or spread information. For my challenge project, I chose to research the problem of bike lanes in Houston. In the beginning stage of my challenge project, I chose five people that I wanted to contact to help me learn more about this issue. These consisted of Clark Martinson (current executive director of Bike Houston), John Long (former executive director of Bike Houston), Planetary Cycles (local bike shop), Bill Mintz (director of Freewheels), and Chris Brown (City of Houston Controller). My successes consisted of contacting Clark Martinson, John Long, Bill Mintz, and Planetary Cycles. I was able to interview each of these people and ask them about the organization they work for, the problem with bike lanes in Houston, and how they are contributing to help increase bike infrastructure. However, I did have some challenges getting in touch with Chris Brown. I called and emailed three times, but still got no response or call back. This was almost the case with some of my other contacts. Although, after two or three tries, I was lucky enough for them to pick up the phone and talk to me for thirty minutes. Through this time, I gained valuable information that I applied to when making my info-graphic regarding bike lanes and bike awareness.
     The info-graphic that I made was the second part of my engagement. Then after making this graphic, I posted it around my neighborhood and sent it to my classmates so more people would be aware of bike lanes and bike awareness. Also, I was originally going to try and get my graphic posted on the social media page of Bike Houston. However, I was unsuccessful as I was unable to get back in touch with Clark Martinson. I tried to contact the directors and even direct message the Instagram page to see if they would respond to me. Sadly I wasn’t able to get a response, which is part of the process of civic engagement. Sometimes you are successful with things, while at other times you aren’t. Furthermore, I realized that the problem of bike infrastructure in Houston is something that I might engage for longer than this project. This issue is an ongoing problem that really needs to be considered and changed. I think this because of the fact that if there were more bike lanes, more people would feel inclined to bike as they feel safe from cars. When people bike, there are many benefits that include a reduction of greenhouse gasses, the physical fitness aspect, various health benefits, and so much more. On top of that, these benefits are in direct relation to helping the obesity and carbon emission problem that is plaguing Houston. One easy way this could be decreased is with the implementation of bike lanes. Nevertheless, this is why civic engagement is so important as it helps people, the city, the country, and possibly the world. When you participate in civic engagement, it shows that you are interested in your city and that you want to help it with a problem it has or implement an idea that you came up with. Although, many people are too scared to voice their opinions or just don’t want to put in the effort to make a difference. I think that if you have an idea or a solution to a problem worth sharing, then go into your city and spread it through civic engagement as you will soon see that even just a highschooler can make a difference.

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