Junior Year is in the Books!

Trafton B.

June 14, 2010 - 1:46 PM

Okay, this is a little belated, but I was busy celebrating the end of the hardest term EVER!! Junior year is over. It's nothing but a memory, and really it's been a fantastic year at that. As my roommates and I pack up and prepare to leave for summer, our seldom-washed walls speak countless stories. But first I want to put a conclusion to the academic year.

I'm not sure how I want to tackle this because it's too difficult to capture the glory of this year in one go, but I think the most apt way to do so is recite the conclusion to the Climate Equity Team's final presentation for the Environmental Leadership Program. Here goes nothing:

After twenty weeks, my teammates and I have learned that being an environmental leader means:
o Being able to communicate with our partners, teachers and teammates.

o Having flexibility to plan out one lesson between eight minds.
o Finding a bicycle that can make sixteen mile round trips to teach.
o Having the patience, when drawing maps for two days straight in the basement of Columbia Hall, and
o Knowing that late-night pizza from Track Town can solve just about anything.
o Having adaptability inside the classroom, because you never know exactly what kids will do next.
o Strategically timing coffee breaks around meetings.
o Having the motivation to finish everything you need to get done; posters, presentation, websites, climate action plans and final reports.
o Having the humility when you can't fit everything into a single 40-minute class period, and
o The enthusiasm to make what you're talking about, whatever it may be, the most important thing in the world.
o Never forgetting to bring empowerment into your lesson, so that student know that they can make a difference in the largest global issues on their own local level,
o Because as we have learned, passion is an ethic in environmental education and that cannot be understated.

Despite all of our complaining and moaning through the past two terms, the Environmental Leadership Program was the most rewarding experience of our lives. I'm sad to see it end.