In ENVS class we read about utopias. Proctor, in critiquing the idea of college sustainability, talks about the college campus as either a utopia of escape or a utopia of reconstruction. Before coming here I thought Lewis & Clark would be the former in almost every aspect, but especially in terms of environmental consciousness. I thought I was leaving behind my banner as the environmental activist at my school and joining a place where that title was unnecessary. And to be honest, the thought was a little scary. I think we tend to define ourselves by the things that set us apart from others. Our identity as college students for example, is essentially inconsequential at school, and yet it is a defining factor once we interact with the outside world. I worried that coming to Lewis & Clark, my identity as an environmentally-conscious person wouldn’t matter as much because I would be surrounded by all like-minded people. I’ve come to realize that my worries were unfounded, in both positive and negative ways.
First, Lewis & Clark is not the environmental haven I believed it was before I came here. Most of the environmental actions that go on, that warranted the “Greenest School in the Nation” title, are behind the scenes administrative actions, the consciousness is not pervasive throughout the student body as I had expected. Sure people often ride bikes, and carry reusable water bottles, but people don’t really think about their impacts on a day-to-day basis. And I don’t know why I expected them to. People are busy with school, and work, and other activities or passions, environmentalism cannot be everyone’s top priority. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It means there is still work to be done, and it means I can avoid an existential crisis. I am not surrounded by clones of myself, I can safely keep my identity and work to expand upon it by developing my understanding on complex issues, as most environmental ones are. I still have battles to fight, and causes to join, there is still work to be done. And I am excited to take that on.
I think Lewis & Clark likes to present itself as a utopia of escape. A safe place where students can learn free from many of the worries or problems of the outside world. As students we know this is not true. And furthermore, I don’t think we would want it to be. We can’t live in a place where we are never challenged, our ideas would become complacent, our beliefs would begin to seem like platitudes, our individual identities would all be the same. A utopia of reconstruction, a place that is not perfect but is a space for growth, and challenge, and true diversity of ideas and people, that is a place I should have wanted when I came to Lewis & Clark, it is a place I should have expected.