Growth. When I think of growth I think about looking at a past point, a beginning point, and then looking at the present moment and noticing what has changed. If that beginning point is how I was as an ENVS student at the beginning of the semester, I can notice that my perspective has really shifted from a negative to a more positive and optimistic viewpoint. There are so many negative impacts on our environment that is was beginning to feel hopeless and unresolvable. However, Rebecca Kidder‘s post, Admitted Students and Cement Trucks, reminded me of the connection between allowing ourselves to be a part of something that pushes us to grow. She is able to become stronger and more empowered by choosing situations that will help her reflect on what makes her passionate and good natured.
I appreciate this positive perspective because real personal growth can be very challenging. It is important for people to be able to take a teachable moment, reflect on it, and then transform what they learned into something positive and life changing.
After reading her post I began to reflect on the challenges I have faced in ENVS this year and how I have grown. Specifically, how I have transformed my mindset when it comes to environmental issues. In the beginning of the year I was extremely negative towards solutions to environmental problems. Each issue we learned about seemed to have bigger and bigger issues connected to it. We even began to learn about how some ways that people have been more “sustainable” are actually just marketed that way to sell more, not that they actually support the environment.
Then in ENVS class today I realized that I wanted to stay positive when it comes to solving environmental issues. I know this seems like a small example but, when we watched a video about how McDonnalds fries are produced, processed, and distributed globally, I made a connection with an experience I had in Peru. In the video, less developed countries have land that has been taken and set aside for the cultivation of the monoculture that is the Russet Burbank potato. My experience with potatoes in Peru was so different that I began to wonder if Peruvian potatoes were at risk.
When I was in Peru, I began to understand how potatoes are an important part of their diet and overall culture. The potatoes I saw and ate while I was there were quite beautifully non-uniform. They were diverse potatoes of all shapes, colors, and sizes. While the McDonalds Russet Burbank potato is supposed to be one shape, a uniform cultivation to best fit their processing machines. During my trip, I was surprised to see a McDonalds restaurant in the Plaza de Armas and could see how Western Culture of potatoes is already forcing its way from the indigenous potato in Peruvian culture.
In that moment in ENVS class when I decided to stay positive and choose action. I made a decision to refuse any negativity that I had been allowing to stunt my growth mindset. I felt hopeful. I could see the possibility of becoming bilingual and living in Peru. There I would talk to local Peruvians and see if they wanted support and assistance on this issue. I could use what I learned in ENVS to help preserve that part of their culture so that they would not fall victim to the fast food industry.