To what extent did I choose an issue that I genuinely care about?
I have always cared about climate change and through our discussions during WindFall seminars, have wondered how we in the United States are actually affected in a negative way by climate change. I really would like to study environmental science going through college and beyond that. This was a way for me to learn more about local impacts of the ever rising emissions in our atmosphere and through this research I have found research that can hopefully help the people of the United States become more aware and involved while fighting to reduce and consume less nonrenewable resources. I would have also liked to look at what is happening to our natural world as well because that is something else that interests me. I am not necessarily sure what I am interested in more, but I think both the natural world and the people who inhabit it are so interconnected that it good to look at both.
How does my proposal align with my own strengths, interests, especially in light of what I’m thinking about doing for my action project for Senior Project?
My proposal is something that I am interested in pursuing as my senior project action piece, but I am not sure it is exactly what I want to do with it. My proposal looks specifically at the education of how our government works and how to be civilly engaged within local government decisions. I am not sure that this particular proposal aligns with some of the strengths that I would have liked to myself use more within this project. I do like how I incorporated some of the newfound values that I have in my proposal. I wish that it was more directly related to my actual issue of injustice though.
What did I learn from this process that will help me with my senior project?
Throughout this project I gained and refined my skills in researching through quality academic journals. I was super excited about studying this issue and I think that that was where a lot of my motivation to make my background research good came from. Before this project, when reading academic journals I would just read the abstract and maybe a little of the actual PDF (The seventy page journals often was seen as a daunting and impossible task in my eyes.) But through the motivation I found to make this project beautiful work, I found that I was willing and invested in making the research I did high quality. I am very proud of my issue research and bibliography section of the Immodest Proposal project because the hard work I put into creating a well refined piece of work shows.
What was the most valuable/informative/interesting part of this assignment?
The most valuable information I learned during this project was that we do have a voice in issues. I see a lot of intersections through all my classwork and work in the clubs I am a part of, and I was fortunate enough to actually speak at a City Council meeting about the plastic bag ban and why Durango should implement it. I learned that night and throughout looking at different approaches to the issue of the effects experiences disproportionately by low income neighborhoods and communities of color, that EVERYONE’S VOICE MATTERS. Everyone is living their life on this planet and it is important that the voices that may not be the loudest are heard as well. Throughout these experiences this idea of standing up was a common theme while researching. Climate change is not going to be solved by an individual person or policy but it will be solved by the constant innovation and ingenuity that comes with people not being afraid to speak out. It is our future and so it is important to be aware of the issues present and what we can do about them now, and that is why my audience for my proposal was high school teachers. I didn’t know how meaningful it is for youth to speak up about issues that they see. But when I got up to the podium at the City Council meeting I felt so empowered and that I was actually making a difference. I want others to feel like this as well and I think that through this project that was very emphasised while looking for solutions. Voice and conversation are everything.
What is one thing I could have done to improve this project the most?
One thing that I wish we did for this project was a cool exhibition. This being one of the last projects that we are doing here at Animas, I thought it would have been cool to do something like our socialization project. It would have been really interesting to do a mock trial kind of thing on a supreme court case that the class voted on. I really liked the building background information of this section. Reading the justice philosophies and looking into environmental justice was awesome, but I wish we could have tied the environmental justice more into the final project. Maybe doing a mock trial where big drilling companies were being prosecuted or something would have been cool. My biggest piece of refinement is just exhibiting these projects to the public because they are so powerful would have been great to show the public.