My Global & Environmental Identity
Complete the following for this section of the portfolio:
- Growing up in Vermont, I built a sense of environmental consciousness at a young age. The state’s natural beauty, more rural lifestyle, and strong focus on sustainability at home and in schools helped me become more aware of the stress our daily actions place on our environment. Vermont’s small communities prioritize local and sustainable living, and schools emphasize environmental education. Progressive state policies on renewable energy and upcycling help encourage families like mine to partake in eco-friendly practices like composting, recycling, and using renewable energy sources like solar panels. While my home has instilled a deep appreciation for local sustainability, it also sparked my curiosity about environmental challenges on a global scale. Through travel and global studies through Loomis and separately, I’ve been able to see how different cultures interact with their environments. This has helped me comprehend what it means to be a global citizen, by showing me new environmentally friendly strategies and ways of life from people across the world. Whether exploring new places or learning about the challenges faced by other countries, travel has opened my eyes to the shared responsibility we all have in addressing the environmental issues our planet faces. Moving forward, my goals for this year include two main things. First, I would like to continue to expand my knowledge of how I can be a better global citizen. This may look like learning new ways to be sustainable or doubling down on things I already do. My second goal is to educate others. Whether this is through my capstone project or through outreach activities, I hope to help others become more aware of how their actions affect Earth.
Global & Environmental Resume
GESC-designated Courses
- Ceramics I
- Climate Change
- College Level: Economics
- College Level: English IV - Literature and the Environment
- Philosophy of Nonviolence
- Spanish I
- Spanish II
- Spanish III
- Spanish IV
- Sustainability: Soil, Water, and Agriculture
- World History
Elective Courses
- Environmental Proctor (E-Proctor): The Loomis Chaffee Environmental Proctor Program is a part of the school’s larger Community Work Program and provides students with the opportunity to develop leadership skills while promoting and executing on the school’s sustainability and environmental stewardship goals. E-Proctors are responsible for planning and coordinating school wide environmental stewardship events such as Earth Day activities, educating the community regarding sustainability efforts such as food waste reduction, and supporting the school’s agricultural operations such as the greenhouse, hydroponic system, and beehives. As a three-year E-Proctor, I have designed and hosted a United Nations Global Goals Week trivia event, monitored and harvested the hydroponic system, supported the maple syrup operation from sap collection to boiling and bottling, organized and led a river-walk cleanup event, and promoted campus wide recycling efforts.
GESC Experiential Education
Sardinia: A focus on food and community health – Sardinia is one of the world’s five Blue Zones (a geographic area containing a high concentration of centenarians). As a part of this program, I travelled to Sardinia with a group of other students to explore how food and the traditional Sardinian diet influence the community’s health and well-being. We visited local farms to observe how food is grown and produced, met with residents to learn about regional food traditions and daily lifestyles, and engaged with researchers to discuss food and its impact on longevity within the region.
Learning Artifacts
GESC Coursework
Class: climate change -- Assingment: Lesson plan on the affordable ways to be sustainable. (https://www.canva.com/design/DAGgNkiSOr8/F_B2swRQ-IBs1KYntIc6lQ/editutm_content=DAGgNkiSOr8&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton)
The goal of this assignment was to help educate students on how living sustainably can be affordable. By refuting these common misconceptions, this lesson plan prompts the students to take action in their daily lives and make more eco-friendly choices, free of charge. This resonated with me because, throughout my travel, I often learn new techniques and tips and continue to use them in my own life once returning home. This assignment was my way of reaching out to others and sharing my own habits and actions in hopes they take something away and go on to live a more climate-friendly lifestyle.
GESC Seminars
Seminar 2: After visiting the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History in Hartford, I have reflected on immigration to Connecticut as a whole. After participating in simulations and engaging in realistic story times, I have developed greater empathy towards those immigrating to the US in general, but specifically CT. Reading real letters and physically holding the items packed in the suitcases of immigrants my age, I started to comprehend the immense toll moving to and living in CT has on people both mentally and physically. While we were introduced to and educated on the stories of a few local families, this also opened a window into immigration on a global scale. If small communities struggle to welcome small numbers, this illustrates the larger issues that arise when there are mass movements due to various things such as war, environmental factors, and political turmoil. This trip has given me a lens into a perspective I had not previously fully grasped, and I will continue to consider this when in global relations classes here at Loomis. While I was able to learn about the path some may take to reach Connecticut, I am still left wondering how families choose Connecticut as a safe haven. Do they often have previous connections to the state? Are people who are immigrants most heavily influenced on where to go based on the reasons they are leaving their home?
Seminar 4: I thoroughly enjoyed AnaAlicia's presentation on her organization, Nourish My Soul. She did a great job keeping our group engaged and having fun through stand-up activities and a cooking portion. This event was educational in many different aspects. While we learned about the mission of Nourish My Soul to help educate, feed, and grow the youth in less fortunate areas, we also learned about hunger and food supply on a larger scale. Hearing about how much food goes to waste in the US has inspired me to be extra diligent in not only the amount of waste I produce from my meals but also how I dispose of it. Not only did this change my own mindset, but it gave me the knowledge to teach and inspire my friends and family to do the same. AnaAlicia's words inspired me to take action when eating meals with my peers at school. I make sure to remind them of the consequences their leftovers have on the environment. I experienced a full-circle moment when I was able to connect this to the topic of methane emissions in my climate change class. Food waste in landfills increases the amount of methane that is released into the atmosphere, which is extremely problematic because this gas is more than 80 times more impactful in the greenhouse effect than CO₂..
Seminar #5 was The Evening of Science with Dr. Robert Stevenson. This was an inspiring talk focused on biodiversity, citizen science, and the power of slowing down to observe the natural world. Dr. Stevenson shared personal stories, research examples, and practical tools like iNaturalist and eBird, showing how everyday people, including Loomis students here on campus, can contribute to scientific research. One story that stuck with me was a short anecdote about a moment when he walked into the woods and just sat quietly. Within minutes, the woods came alive. Although the animals first scurried away when they heard someone walking, they eventually returned to normal behavior when they realized there was no danger. Dr. Stevenson inspired me to take action by sharing moments like these and explaining how accessible and helpful contributing to research can be. I now have iNaturalist on my phone and have been able to help make a difference in just days. I am not sure I would have found out about this app if it were not for this event.
GESC Electives
- Exchange student host: During the summer of 2022, my family hosted an exchange student from Spain. While this experience certainly highlighted some cultural differences, it also highlighted how globalization has influenced teen culture. Spanish teens were just as into the Nike Blazer sneaker trend as American teens, and the release of a new Marvel movie generated as much anticipation in Spain as in the USA. For me, this was an eye-opening moment on the impact of globalization. I still stay in touch regularly with this family, and it is interesting to hear the differences in their perspectives on political and global issues.
GESC Experiential Education
Goat Farm
Enhance Understanding: We also developed empathy for the community through learning about the farmers lives and the importance of sustainable animal care. They walked us through the different processes of what growing, butchering, and eating an animal would look like.
Take Action: Here, we engaged with the local community, specifically a farm, to learn about how they source meat products and responsible farming practices. This information still impacts where I buy meat from at my own home today. My family often goes to local farmstands instead of chain grocery stores.
Food Market
Develop Skills: Here, we participated in the local food cycle by buying/eating from the fresh markets that were located in walking distance for everyone in the entire area.
Enhance Understanding: This helped us to recognize the connection between locally sourced foods and community values.
Take Action: We also support local food producers by purchasing the foods.
Colosseum
Seek Knowledge: We took a trip inside the Colosseum and investigated how the history of Rome has impacted what the modern day city looks like. Our guide was able to explain what different architectural styles represented and helped us gain a better view of the cultural aspect inside.
Enhance Understanding: After visually exploring the colosseum, we analyzed what we learned to better understand how things reflected both the social and cultural norms of ancient Rome. We even acted out scenes and discussed how different people would have been viewed or treated to empathize.
Pizza
Enhance Understanding: We immersed ourselves in the culture by enjoying the local foods. This also helped us deepen our understanding of Italian food traditions. Not only did we try these foods, but we also spoke to the waiters to hear their perspectives on their community. This was especially important to me because I love to cook. I was able to learn new dishes and bring them home to my own family for us to enjoy together.
Capstone Project
Impacts Nature has on Mental Health
Project rationale
Our project aimed to get people outside and participating in activities that would impact them positively mentally. Not only did we want to help destress our community, but we also wanted to bring people together and educate them on the benefits that being in nature has for your mental health.
Target Audience
Our project was targeted at all members of the Loomis community. The events were specifically advertised to students, but there were teachers in attendance at all of them as well.
Project Process
We completed our mission through a mini series of events, including yoga sessions with smoothies both before and after school, a bonfire night with s’mores for all upperclassmen, and a chalk-based art event. Each event had a great turnout with a wide variety of people, including different genders, grades, and extracurriculars. We had both returning participants and new people every time. While we were first concerned we would not be able to get the educational portion of our mission across, our worries were quickly washed away. People were extremely attentive and excited to listen when having a good time with friends and food. After looking through our feedback and reflection data, it was clear that people grasped the points we were trying to make and understood our mission.
Project Reflection
Looking back on my GESC experience as a whole, I feel proud of both my final product and the process in which it came to be because it reflects the learning and growth I’ve developed throughout my time at Loomis. My portfolio makes my commitment to sustainability, environmental education, and global awareness clear through both academic work and real-world experiences. This project connects strongly to the Alvord Center Matrix, particularly through the lens of Taking Action. Throughout my time in this program, a consistent theme in my reflections has been the importance of turning learning into doing. In this project, that meant not only researching the mental health benefits of nature but also working with my group and others to help bring our research to life and do good in our community. We wanted to share our findings and encourage others to make use of them. It’s one thing to understand a global or environmental issue; it’s another to design a solution for others. This project helped me grow as a global and environmental scholar by reinforcing that small, local actions matter. From my intent statement, I wrote that when first starting my GESC endeavors for this project, doing small things to make big changes in my community has always been a key component. Looking ahead, I hope this project can inspire future students to connect with nature and consider how environmental spaces affect mental health. I am hopeful the activities we organized can continue and that community members take it upon themselves to participate in the solo ones as well.
GESC Reflection (150-300 words)
Reflecting on my Statement of Intent, I see how far my passion for sustainability has come. My early passion for food sustainability and hands-on learning in Vermont laid the foundation, but my time in the GESC program at Loomis Chaffee has allowed me to evolve into a more informed, action-oriented, and globally aware environmental scholar. Since joining the program, I have remained consistent in my commitment to taking action, a theme I introduced in my original statement and which has become central to everything I do. Whether it was helping run hydroponic systems, organizing Earth Day events, or creating a capstone project that connects time in nature with mental health, I’ve worked to transform knowledge into impact. I now understand sustainability not just as an individual responsibility, but as something tied to community mental health and overall community well-being. My experience in Sardinia was one of the first moments when I truly saw how environmental practices are shaped by culture. Here I saw examples of resourcefulness and community-based living that I did not know existed. Through the GESC program, I’ve grown from someone who practiced sustainability at home into someone who advocates for it and shares it with others. The clearest sign of my growth as a global and environmental scholar is how I no longer just want to live sustainably myself, but I also want to help create systems that make it easier for others to do the same.