So far, this term, as anticipated, has kept me very busy. One of the things that has kept me extra occupied this spring has been figuring out living arrangements for the next coming year in the house on campus that I am living on as well as all of the events surrounding the club that we are based around: Greenfire. I have been feeling very fortunate recently because of the living arrangements that I have this year. Going from living in dorms freshman year to living in a much smaller house this year was definitely a notable change for me. I first got involved with Greenfire as a club last year as a freshman, and it has provided a wide net of people for me to interact with that share a huge amount of similar interests with me, namely, ones having to do with the earth that surrounds us. In middle and high school, I began getting interested with environmental issues, and my interest evolved in high school. The first time that I got to look at a wide variety of environmental issues for a purpose was my junior year in public speaking class. I got to write a debate speech arguing why hemp is a better and more environmentally friendly fabric than cotton. After finding a lot of information on the subject, I realized just how much of an impact humans have on the earth in almost any activity that one could think of, and I got hooked on the subject. At first, when thinking of environmental topics to argue for, I found myself in a sea of different choices, but the one that I picked really spoke to me. I hadn’t realized how many resources go into making such a large portion of the textiles that we produce in the United States and elsewhere and how much waste is created as a byproduct — chemical runoff, fields sucked dry of nutrients, and fossil fuels that go into transportation are only a few of the those factors. After doing the paper, I found myself watching what I bought, and what actions I took part in — trying to make a lighter impact on mother earth. In doing that, I also met people along the way that shared my interests. My high school had a small eco club, and environmental science classes that I took, but I didn’t really find myself interacting personally with a large amount of people who shared my interests in the environment until I came to Lawrence. Here, there are multiple clubs and groups on campus focused on issues in the environment and making a positive impact on it, Greenfire being one of them. Going to a Greenfire meeting, it is easy to connect with people on a wide variety of issues in the world, and that is one of the core reasons why I love it. Another part of Greenfire that I love is that not only do I get to spend time with these amazing people in club meetings on a weekly basis, but I get to see some of them every single day because I live with them. Twelve people live in the house, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to live with this year. They share many of my interests and have also been great friends to me who share laughter, difficulties, and general life moments with me. When I think about living in the house this year, it seems as if I just moved in yesterday, and although school can be stressful, I am surrounded by a great group of people, and I wish I could pause life and spend even more time with them. Seven members of the house this year will be graduating, which is sad, but also a time to be positive about the future, because we get to accept seven new people into the house to grow with and learn from. Just as I was meeting new people that shared my interests in the start of my “eco-journey” (I guess you could call it), I still am, and to me, that is exciting! It is amazing to me to keep meeting people who know exactly what I am talking about when I speak about the issues that I am passionate about. I also enjoy educating others about the environmental issues that I care about through Greenfire. It is a great way to get a lot of people together to spread the word about things in a positive way. Without the people that surround me in the house and the club, I would never be able to reach out to as many people as I am able to now. Through Greenfire, I have also connected with people who share my interest in cycling and everything that surrounds it (which I will definitely talk about in a later post)! I am getting excited about next year already with so many new and exciting individuals in my life, but, of course, I am also getting sad already to see the wonderful people that I have become close to in my two years here graduate so soon!
-Photo by Fanny Lau