Visions of Sustainability

Please answer the following questions:

     1.    How does your background motivate you as a learner of sustainability?

2. How have you challenged yourself in the first half of this semester? What have you learned from these experiences?
3. How have you grown as a person, community member and sustainable world citizen?
4. What is your relationship with and responsibility to the sustainability of the world?
5. What have you learned about sustainability this semester?

These seemingly humble questions inspired some of the most significant community building of the semester. They’re pretty short, nothing like the detailed prompts I typically receive during a normal semester. They’re not verbose, abstract, or vague. Instead they are concise and direct.

1.       Tell us about your past.

2.       What are your challenges and how have you learned from them?

3.       Have you changed in some capacity?

4.       What does the future look like?

5.       Overall, what have you learned?

Simple. Basic. Questions that by their very nature draw down your walls. There are no fancily worded parameters to struggle between and therefore the door is left open for honest, authentic, and penetrating conversation.

And that is exactly what we had. This assignment was about reflecting on our semester only on the fringes; at its core this was an exercise designed to allow us to open up to each other and form greater bonds. I heard my classmates express thoughts that I’ve had myself. I heard people connect over the common experiences they’ve shared. Despite the fact that we’ve all come from different places, we can now know for certain that we are not alone in some of the things we are feeling. I was touched by the amazing positive feedback I received and enjoyed giving positive feedback to others.

I was also inspired by the amazing voices of my classmates. Hearing them eloquently craft thoughts with words – thoughts that I shared, but would have stated differently – was enthralling. It might not make sense to be thankful for a person’s phrasing, but I am. Maybe it’s indicative of our dual diversity and similarity – shared thoughts expressed by different means.

One of the best things I gained from this exercise was a deep respect for the people with whom I’m sharing this semester. They are remarkable. Knowing them and seeing the greatness they are capable of inspires me and gives me hope for a better future.

-Alicia

"G" and others