‘We’ve been innovating since before this country existed’: winner of General Assembly Philly story contest

By David Friedman

Last month we asked you to write us a 250 word story about why you love Philly for a chance to win $250 in General Assembly class credits. Thanks for your submissions. We’ll post the winners this week, starting with our first prize winner, David Friedman, with an essay that gets right to the point.

Find it below the jump. And don’t miss General Assembly’s weekend workshop on entrepreneurial thinking and best practices in UX design from Nov. 17 – Nov. 18.

First library. First zoo. First medical school. First stock exchange. First covered bridge. First World’s Fair in the U.S. First department store. First taxi service. First escalator. First Thanksgiving day parade. First American convention. First computer. The University of Pennsylvania. The Curtis Institute of Music. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Samuel Barber. Kevin Bacon. Andrew Wyeth. Dick Clark. Mike Powell. Bob Saget. Louis Kahn. Patti LaBelle. Andrew Weil. Jennifer Weiner. Will Smith. Noam Chomsky. Joe Frazier. Rocky!

We’ve been inventing, building, innovating, creating, questioning, and generally kicking ass since before this country existed. What is there not to love?