What am I passionate about? Well,a lot of things. Isn’t that a part of being an environmental studies major? I’m passionate about the outdoors, traveling, art, bananas and so much more. The beautiful thing about being an environmental studies major at Lewis & Clark College is that you can combine your passions and make them a part of your major. You could study bananas as a GMO and how climate change has affected that relationship. As long as you are able to think critically about your passion (situate, hourglass, etc.) you can incorporate it into your concentration.
After an internship with an environmental NGO in Ethiopia, I became passionate about pastoralists. During my time at the NGO, I found myself constantly thinking critically about supposed solutions to certain problems. These questions only added to my passion and it has now become my capstone topic. Lewis & Clark’s environmental studies program allows you to combine creativity with passion and produce a well thought out outcome.
Your passion doesn’t only have to be represented in your concentration either; it could be how you get involved on campus or how you choose to use your weekends. Whether it leads to an internship or just a new hobby, the program allows you to be passionate in your own way. For example, I’m doing an alternative thesis which means that I’m not writing a paper. I personally thrive in creative and out-of-the-box methods of thinking and wanted to reflect that in my thesis presentation. I am going to be creating what I call fondly call, “Farmville meets pastoralists”. The idea is. to create a Google tour to give a more visual representation of what it’s like to be a pastoralist. On top of providing a visual tour using Google and developing a game/learning too, I will be writing a paper connecting it all. The alternative thesis offered by the ENVS department allows me to cultivate not just my knowledge and passion about pastoralism and related topics, but it indulges my right leaning brain. This flexibility stretches my thinking and understanding on a topic that I am passionate about.