Listen and enjoy!

Hello, Friends!

I would like to begin by expressing gratitude…

 I am thankful for the earth. I am thankful for food. I am thankful for friends. I am thankful for family. I am thankful for laughter. I am thankful for passion. I am thankful for life. I am thankful for love. Lastly, I am thankful for hope... I have been blessed to have amazing role models that fostered my thirst for instilling meaning into my life and taught me concepts which I year for. By being patient and kind I was able to not only learn for myself but to pass it forward to the community.

Reflecting upon what motivates me to do the work I aspire to do, and how am I going to feed that into my capstone experience, I think of all the things that I am grateful for and use that as the driving force as an agent of change. The weeks leading up to me moving up to Humboldt were turbulent on many levels, I was leaving all my friends and family, leaving behind the reputation I had built for myself within my community and all the work I had invested in over the period of 5 years. I left all behind to travel 700 miles to come to a land I had never seen, where I would not know a single individual, with only $700 in my pocket, and I was nervous that I would arrive lose my passion for manifesting change within communities and peoples hearts. Fortunately, I aspired to venture a new path in the pursuit of expanding my wisdom and willing to take a chance.

 My first semester— I remember for the first month I was ecstatic! I was away from all the bullshit of Southern California and I was left to my own devices to explore the beautiful landscape. As the weeks went on I began to feel disconnected from my whole experience, because I felt like I was submerging myself into a cycle of repetition and not having a sense of community to contribute to. But after gaining a position at CCAT, which has allowed me to work for hands-on with gardens and build stuff, invoking hope on 11-9 in my ENST 120 class, and making some super solid friends I was able to find my niche here at HSU. Since then I have continued to work at CCAT and work for hands-on with students in our program to do some stellar stuff on campus and within the community. Here is where I learn, here is where I find motivation and the inspiration to feed my capstone experience. Building resilience is at the heart of my existence, it is what gets me by day by day, learn about heavy concepts that weigh heavy on my heart, but it is what I wish to share with the world.

T
he wisdom I have instilled allows me to do the work I aspire to do and share. With my capstone experience I will share my knowledge and assume a leadership position within the community by teaching appropriate technology building and food sovereignty hands-on, sharing the power possesses, and dedicating my time towards building resilient communities.

~Epic Journeys,

Rye

"The living world is not 'out there' somewhere, but in your heart."

-Paul Hawken