Follow the Call
A confident agent- I want to be one who
is willing to have their mind changed at any moment and be authentic in each
decision I make. Coming into my mid-early twenties, I am beginning to shape
many choices on my own without the overbearing mother that is institutionalized
schooling. Being that I have been apart of a school system and schedule since I
was three years old, the coming of grand change couldn’t feel more ripe.
Between my arrival to Humboldt County in 2016, and now with merely eighty days
left until graduation in Spring 2020, I know I have grown more into myself than
my conscious being has ever confessed before.
This spring, I am graduating with
an Environmental Studies degree with two minors in Music and Appropriate
Technology (AT). My passion for music erupted in freshman year at HSU as my
friend recommended I enroll in Afro-Cuban Percussion class. Four years later, I
am completing my music minor with the experience of World Percussion Samba,
Introduction to Percussion, Introduction to Strings, and a year and a half of
Private Fiddle Lessons, and plenty of drum circles and open mics under my belt.
Becoming a music minor was the best thing I could have brought into my college
experience as an Environmental Studies student because it taught me how to
embody rhythm and melody in ways I had ever explored- never knew I needed.
Irish fiddle became its own branch in my musical tree of love. A place where I
could reach into my roots and feel connected to the celtic people who grew out
of the little island that looks like a gummy bear; fiddling brought me
satisfaction through an unknown longing for heritage and music.
Likewise, my
study of Appropriate Technology deserves a great deal of gratitude, for its
sponitunity came just as quickly as my sudden passion for music. From
harvesting and selling for the local farmers market to building rainwater
catchment systems on campus, I was taught that AT meant using the right
materials, techniques, and conversations when creating small scale and locally
friendly projects. Today, I have made choices that have brought me to chair a
committee on campus called Earth Week Every Week. Through my years of
experience in social and environmental direct activism in Humboldt, I have
found myself sitting as this years Associated Student’s Environmental
Sustainability Officer. I am proud of my work so far, but somehow feel a
different calling in my life. With a profound amount of gratitude for the
numerous scholarly articles about environmental justice and politics; endless
small group conversations about heavy social-science topics; and a powerful
community of people who want to show action in the time of climate resilience-
my time for a new way of life feels as though it could not come sooner. I have
learned what I needed from HSU, will teach those who have not learned, and will
open myself up to signs of opportunity that spark a true sense of longing
within my ever-changing self.
I have emerged into these positions
through natural callings and talents. Too, I have been trained that these are
the steps that are logical for creating a successful future, but I believe
there are other options-I am called to other things. Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown has taught me to follow
my heart and move towards collections of people who agree with my beliefs.
Within my life experiences in Humboldt County, I have also unveiled my love for
caretaking for people and the land. I have worked as a caregiver for supporting
living agencies throughout my time in Humboldt and feel like I am giving back
to the world in the right way. With a younger brother who has Autism and a
cousin with Cerebral Palsy, I was taught that it simply made sense that we take
care of one another. So I look to further my caretaking as college comes to an
end, though I feel more of a calling towards teaching now-a-days. I long to
spend time with children, and am inspired to begin teaching as a substitute
teacher for disabled children at the local special education school, Glen Paul.
My calling for gardening has also blossomed through my interactions in
Humboldt. “What you pay attention to, grows.” claims Brown, and so I choose to
grow food. With the decline in food quality through our primary food system,
communities must embrace the farming techniques that we so regretfully left
behind in the coming of the industrial revolution. For me, gardening began with
planting flowers with my mama as a child, and has flooded into my life like a
river breaking through a shrewd dam. I have moved every year for the four years
I have been here at HSU, and I have never stopped planting and harvesting food
along the way. In my time, I have worked with plants such as: strawberries,
black berries, plums, many culinary and medicinal herbs, potatoes, broccoli,
cauliflower, spinach, peas, beans, flowers, lettuce, cabbage, carrot, garlic,
tomatoes, and more plants I cannot think of right now. Through my intuitive use
of combining seed, water and soil, I began gardening. With the knowledge of my
peers and teachers, I have grown into a farmer. In my life, I want to help grow
a farm and call it home. I look to intern and work at local farms for the short
future, and am curious about farming opportunities around the world that may
lead to this sort of family farm dream.
I have traveled all around the country. I
was born in Florida and quickly moved to Louisiana, Alabama and Colorado. From
there, we moved to Georgia, South Carolina, and California. My dad was in the
military so I was used to change and making friends. After several years in San
Diego, I decided it was time I step out on my own and prepare for college, so I
took a ten day solo road trip up the coast of California. You could say I am
used to moving, but I would rather phrase it as a love for travel. I have huge
dreams to travel before I even begin to think about my life career. Unlike my
mom, aunties, and granny, I chose not to get pregnant and married before age
twenty, and therefore am called to a different life path than creating a family
in my early twenties. I want to create myself first, and that very well means
seeing the world and the cultures which grew from this Earth. Specifically, I
want to physically connect with my Irish roots. Granny and Papa immigrated from
Ireland in the 1950’s to find work in the U.S., and after their passing several
years back, I have come to realize the value of my unknown Irish heritage. The
Gaelic they spoke, the foods they prepared, all of the things that makes me
Irish by blood was not honored by my child self as I realize as a woman, and
now know that my chances for cultural revitalization lay in the hands of my
fifty cousins across the globe.
With dreams as big as mine, I know Ireland will
find me one day, I just hope I find the courage and luck to get there sooner
than later. I have plans alright, may they be a short visit to the motherlands
of Ireland, or a lifetime of global exploration through the Chakras of Earth,
my heart longs to meet the world outside of U.S. customs and borders, for the
human experience seems too beautiful to ignore our strongest callings.
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