Maya Bell Loomis Chaffee GESC

My Global & Environmental Identity

Global and environmental studies have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I started traveling with my grandmother when I was six, and since then we have gone on one or two international trips every year. We go to places off the beaten path, often to see wildlife and specific animals. Two of my favorite trips were when we went to Botswana to see meerkats, and to Bali for komodo dragons. When we travel we immerse ourselves into the different cultures and take advantage of the time we have there. We try all of the different foods and do all the activities we are offered to get a more authentic experience. While I’m visiting these countries I’m also very interested in the ways that they are fighting environmental issues, and to what extent. For example, in some places I’ve visited the electricity is shut off for everyone for part of the day to save power and lower costs. This was really different to me because living in America I’ve never experienced this, but it made me think about how much electricity we use each day and what impact that makes on the environment. Through the GESC I hope to learn more about environmental issues globally specifically relating to some of the places I have traveled. I also want to make a change in some way relating to these environmental and global topics.

Global & Environmental Resume

GESC-designated Courses

  • World History
  • Spanish V: Latin American Civilization
  • Spanish V: Latin American Short Story
  • Spanish V: Cinema
  • Cermamics I
  • CL English IV: Literature and the Envornment
  • Developmental Phychology

Elective Courses

  • I chose to do a 6th course which was Philosphy of Nonviolence. I learned about many different viewpoints from around the world. I learned about different presepectives and ways of thinking, and how this has shaped literature and major events.

GESC Experiential Education

Education First (EF) month-long language immersion trip in Málaga Spain after my junior year. I attended Spanish classes and learned how to live in Spain with one of my close friends. We navigated the city alone and learned a lot about Spanish culture along the way. We tried traditional food and visited many historical sights that shaped Spanish history.

If applicable ...

  • Cultural emmersion trip with Moondance Adventures to Fiji after my sophomore year with no electronics. I stayed inside the homes of Fijians in a small mountain village, where we attended church services, cooked with them, and visited the school. I worked a lot with the kids in the village and created a bond with many of the families.
  • Service trip with Moondance Adventures to Equador and Galapagos after my freshman year with no electronics. I traveled to the Galapagos Islands and cleaned beaches, learned about Ecuadorian culture, and studied wildlife. I went to a local farm, and helped out and then cooked and ate the food from the farm.
  • Backpacking trip in the Pacfic Northwest with Moondance Adventures. This trip was three weeks long in the cascades, and I felt deeply connected to nature because I was disconnected electronically.

Learning Artifacts

GESC Coursework

  • In my CL English IV: Literature and the Environment class, we read Walden by Henry David Thoreau and then emulated his way of writing and thinking by going on walks as a class and then journaling afterward. We were seeking knowledge by exploring the environment at Loomis and reflecting on our connection to it, which impacted me because I realized that so many Americans do not appreciate our environment enough. For one of our assignments, we typed up a response journal that we had done in class, which I will link here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pEXsmc6B9ZrH6JNGtPAU7DL4bVSaPln5upKZUspeXOI/edit?usp=sharing

GESC Seminars

  • Seminar #2: This seminar we went to Conneticut Museum of Culture and History in Hartford, and we learned about immigration and what work they did in the U.S. specifically. This seminar enhanced my understanding becuase I was able to put myself in their shoes because of the activities we did that showed how hard the work had to do like laying bricks or hanging tabacco leaves. This impacted my work as a Global and Enviornmental Scholar because I gained empathy for the hard work that people had to do to survive in America. I picked up the stack of bricks that was much smaller than what these people had to do, and I could barely pick it up, let alone lift it over my head like they had to do. This museum connected with my Spanish V class because we learned a lot about Cuban immigrants and what their lives were like, and in Spanish we are learned about the Cuban revolution, so I could draw many similarities.
  • Seminar #4: AnaAlicia and Nourish My Soul took action by responding to flooding in Connecticut, and creating floating plant beds to help prevent devastation from flooding in the future. Additionally, Nourish My Soul got high school students involved to create projects that will help out the non-profit forever. This not only helped the organization, but it also got the next generation involved and educated on this issue. They presented solutions for the common good by allowing access to free food so that families can have access to healthy food without judgment. Their changes impacted the community positively by bringing people together to focus on an environmentally centered initiative, and when they did this work they could also be nourished with fresh food. I am inspired to see if there are any organizations like Nourish My Soul in North Carolina because there is a lot of food insecurity in my area. The maple sugaring at Loomis is a little bit like Nourish My Soul because we are getting students involved with working in the environment, and then educating our community on how it’s made. Even though the maple syrup is not free like the food from Nourish My Soul, the E-proctors at Loomis use the maple sugaring program to educate the student body about our environment.
  • Seminar #5: I went to the open Schultz discussion on environmental policy, and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the discourse between students, especially when people disagreed. I was surprised, once the floor opened up, when someone stated that they thought that America was not wealthy enough compared to other countries to support or be a leader in this fight for the environment. The members of the Schultz fellowship disagreed with his point, but I was surprised that someone would not see America as wealthy enough to help out in this important issue. Another take away for me was Aster’s point that America isn’t reliable enough to be the number one leader of this environmental issue for the world. She explained how our former president Biden worked towards helping out with this issue, but then president Trump did almost the opposite of him and left the Paris Climate Agreement, showing the unpredictableness of our legislature. She also added that until the issue of climate is one that does not depend on who is in office, we will not be a good leader for the rest of the world. I think that this was a really good point that I had not thought about before, and overall this discussion made me think deeper into the nuances of the environmental issue across the globe.

GESC Electives

Goa, India
  • Over winter break, I traveled to Goa, India, with my grandmother. We went on a hike to this waterfall, and before we could enter the forest, there were policemen who made sure we had no plastic. No plastic was allowed in this forest, and this enhanced my understanding of the initiatives that are being taken in other countries to protect plants, animals, and our earth.

GESC Experiential Education

This is the Caminito Del Rey in Málaga, Spain. This walk was memorable in my growth as a global and environmental scholar because I was in awe of the beauty of this place. I will never forget this hike and the people from across the world with whom I was talking and walking with while on this hike.
This is a photo from Cordoba, Spain. One weekend we took a day trip there and this photo reminded me of the plants that were so beautiful even in the city. I was surprised by the greenery in this area and loved how the city incorporated plants to make the place even more beautiful.
This photo is the beach that was right outside of where we were living in Málaga. Every night we would sit on these rocks, and we met many new friends here. We talked to many locals in Spanish and the people I met at this beach was one of the most memorable parts of my trip to Spain because I got to connect with people who lived in the area where I was.

Capstone Project

Project Title: Earth Day and Environmental Discussion from the Student Perspective at Loomis Over Time

Project rationale

This project is important because it combines one of my favorite topics in school, history, with one of the most significant issues today, our environment. This project is also important to the Loomis community because it educates students and teachers on the history of Loomis regarding the environment, which is not usually discussed.

Target Audience

I think this project is especially relevant for students and teachers at Loomis Chaffee because they are familiar with what we do today to support our environment, so this information will be more impactful for them. Also, they are a part of this community, so it is always good to learn more about a place you are a part of.

Project Process

To complete my project, I visit the Loomis archives every week and read through all of the Loomis Logs (student-led newspapers) since 1970 (which was the year of the first Earth Day in the U.S.). Once I had taken notes and photos of the articles since that date, I started to think through common themes that I would like to point out in my project. Then, I put all of my ideas together and added some more recent aspects to combine all of the research I had done into one concise project display. I was challenged when I started to put this project together because I had done so much research, but I needed to figure out what I should include in the display.

Visual Interests

These are two examples of the photos I took during my research process. I was looking for environmental articles, then I would read and take notes on them.
Here's another example.

Project Reflection

I am proud of the research that I did with this project because nothing like this has been published before in one place. Now, students can understand what our history looks like without having to look through each Log individually. This project connects to the Alvord Center Matrix because I enhanced my understanding of Loomis' history and am educating the community with what I found. This project helped me grow as a global and environmental scholar because it opened my eyes to the way that discussion around this topic has changed over the years. It also showed me how far Loomis has come and how much the world has changed in this aspect since 1970. In the future, students will be able to reference this project for future research on the history of environmental research at Loomis, or if they are curious about our history. This project will also show new students how Loomis focuses on this issue, and inform them of the Alvord Center and other environmental groups on campus, if they are interested in being involved environmentally. This project gives a good overview of our history, and if students are intrested they can talk to me for more details. I also think that this project will motivate our student body to keep fighting against this issue once they see how far we have come since 1970. This project helps keep the momentum we already have going.

GESC Reflection

I am interested in the GESC program because I would like to further my studies globally and learn more about the environmental aspects that relate. I have been traveling my whole life, which is what initially opened my eyes to many cultures and parts of the world that I never knew about. I started traveling internationally when I was six, and since then, I have gone on one or two international trips a year. Some of the unique experiences I had were when I lived with a host family in Costa Rica and when I lived in a village in Fiji last summer. I have become more curious because of my travels, and I would like to use my curiosity to further my studies and have new experiences around the world. My goals are to think deeper and collaboratively create something that contributes to the greater Loomis community. I would like to share what I have learned from my travels and also learn more about the world and the environment at the seminars and when creating my project. I am most interested in the global aspect of GESC, but I also want to combine global and environmental aspects when creating my project. I want to learn more about the ways we can advance our community to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

GESC has helped me grow as a global and environmental scholar because this process exposed me to many aspects that I was unaware of. The seminars gave me a more well-rounded view of all of the different issues and solutions that are happening right now. The process of my capstone project helped me feel more connected to the Loomis community environmentally, because now I know our history of the environment.

(To be written upon conclusion of your Capstone. The Alvord Center will send you your statement of intent at that time.)

Finishing Touches

Check spelling/grammar, check links, and insert some images to enhance visual interest.