My Global & Environmental Identity
My name is Mamadito Chipfunde-Nong. I am 17 years old and attend the Loomis Chaffee School. Exploring global and environmental studies has led me, consequently, to explore what it means to me to be a global citizen of our world. While I do think my interests in culture and the environment stem from several branches of my life, I do believe there is a genetic component. My parents grew up under the South African Apartheid Regime, which meant that children and teenagers were forced to grow up fast. But, in this accelerated maturation, they learned how to defend themselves and their rights, and stand up for what they believed in. In short, my parents were young freedom fighters and raised me to know how to articulate my needs and desires and persist for what I know I deserve. Before Loomis, I thought science “wasn’t my thing.” It wasn’t until I took Biology in Freshman year that I developed a fascination with the natural regenerative of the Earth, the human anatomy and its interconnectedness, and the phenomenon of evolution. In the future, I want to be a fashion designer. As I grew older, I began to see and better understand the cultural, economic and even environmental and political influences the fashion industry has in our world. Fashion is science. As an artist, I know art holds power. Power is the ability to create change, and I always try to utilize my art as my power to advocate for others and different social causes. My capstone project is based on this idea — the intersection between fashion and environmental change. My goal for my capstone project is to encourage artists to use our power to draw in an audience who may otherwise remain ignorant to ongoing global issues.
Global & Environmental Resume
GESC-designated Courses
- World History: Systems of Justice/Injustice (9th Grade)
- Modern African History (10th Grade)
- Ecology (11th Grade)
- Climate Change (11th Grade)
- Sustainability (11th Grade)
- Graphic Design and Digital Art I (11th Grade)
- Statistics I & 2 (12th Grade)
- CL History Sem: US History Immigration/Ethnicity (12th Grade)
- Middle East: History of Peace and Conflict (12th Grade)
- Developmental Psychology (12th Grade)
- French I, II, III, IV A (9-12th Grade)
Elective Courses
After having taken Biology I in 9th grade, I was eager to take more life science-based courses when I had the opportunity. In Fall term of my Junior Year, I took Ecology with Mrs. Griggs. The most memorable experience in this class to me was our case study on the mysterious decline in the Aleutian sea otter population. As a class, we explored the different reasons for the decrease from disease to poaching. Over the course of our research, I expected there to be one main reason that would be revealed at the end of our days-long investigation. However, by the end of the case study, we had not come to a consensus on what was killing the otters, and I remember feeling a sense of enlightenment washing over me as I realized the purpose the assignment: interconnectedness. Throughout the term, Mrs. Griggs emphasized the relationship between animals, habitat, humans and the environment, and while I'd thought I understood the depth of this phenomenon, it wasn't until the end of the case study that I developed a new appreciation for just how diverse yet interwoven our various ecosystems truly are.
GESC Experiential Education
Iceland - My 9-day stay in Iceland was an Alford Center IEP educational trip to study environmentally-friendly lifestyles and practices in the country. We learned about how Icelanders power their homes, preserve natural landforms, humanly raise livestock, and more. We reflected upon our time in Iceland and what from our experiences we wanted to take back to Loomis to promote a climate-aware atmosphere at school.
SYA France - I spent four months studying in Rennes, France. I lived with a host family and 5/6 of my courses were taught in French. We went on several out-of-town excursions such as Bordeaux and Saint Malo. During my time, I improved my French speaking skills and immersed myself French culture and lifestyle.
If applicable ...
DEI Intern - I became a DEI intern at the end of my sophomore year. DEI interns are usually tasked with managerial work such as creating flyers, organizing and advertising campus events, and keeping the main workspace tidy. I was invited to join the Slavery At Loomis project, a DEI-History Department proposal that works to research Loomis Chaffee's past affiliations and historical association to chattel slavery. We do this to work towards a proper redressal of historical atrocities, to better understand the school's legacy and our attachment to said legacy, and encourage other private/independent educational institutions to do the same in order to promote a more honest and inclusive environment for everyone. Work for this project involves meeting with different culture and education-focused organizations, drafting proposals to the school board and Headmaster, and interpreting historical documents, reports and letters.
- Pan-Africanism Affinity Group - In Junior Year, I was the president of the Pan-Africanism Affinity Group at Loomis (PALS). We focused on uniting African nations based on a common identity. We watched a documentary on Mauritanian mythology, led a seminar on Neo-colonialism and hosted several potlucks to share and indulge in our various cultures.
- Fashion Club - I am the co-President of the Fashion Club for the 2024-2025 school year. We are focused on promoting sustainability in fashion. Methods like up cycling, thrift shopping are ways to participate in fashion while also being conscious of environmental impact.
Learning Artifacts
GESC Coursework
- At SYA, I took Political Science course. We studied French government structure, the history of the historical economic crises and social issues that led to significant legislative adaptations, and deep-dove into the different political parties in France their respective agendas and the debates amongst them. We compared what we had learned about French politics to American politics in order to gain a deeper sense of our own connection(s) to American foreign policy and diplomacy, and of the geopolitical relations between the two global superpowers. When we study subjects like political science from a current events and interpersonal framework, we not only enhance our understanding of the class curriculum itself, but we recognize similarities between our societies and can then appreciate our intrinsic interconnectedness.
- As for our final project, we had to interview strangers on their political standings, attitudes on voting, and if they believe France is progressing or regressing. My partner and I were, initially, very hesitant towards this idea because politics in America is a very sensitive subject even amongst friends and family, let alone strangers. Also, we did not know how we to communicate such specific and niche concepts all in French! We used the collected anecdotes to build a thesis presentation on how a social factor such as age can interacts with young people's versus older people's voting participation. This assignment pushed us into an uncomfortable position and within it we saw the real-life effects of the issues we studied about in the class room. Suddenly, the impacts of new government policies and social hierarchies had emotions and faces behind them, and the course mattered so much more.
GESC Seminars
Write 2-3 sentences for each “level of reflection." Reflection B: Understand - What is important about what I did/learned so far?
Date of entry: October 10th, 2024.
Contextual background: I had been living in Rennes, France for about a month by this point.
Reflection B: I have become more comfortable with talking with French people. Before I arrived, I would get very nervous before speaking in French to others who could speak better than me or were fluent in the language, but because I had to communicate with my host family, teachers, and school director so frequently, my mistakes are now (somewhat of) an afterthought. Getting my ideas and needs across is my priority. Also, French people tend to appreciate the effort, and it has become important to me that they know I am trying to immerse myself in their culture and language as much as possible even if I am not perfect all the time.
Write 200 words on how you were able to “deepen understanding,” “develop skills,” and/or how you may be able to “take action” so far. (Reference Alvord Center Engaged Citizenship Matrix)
Date of Entry: November 11, 2024
Contextual Background: I had been living in France for two months now.
Today (and the rest of the week) is the commemoration of the end of WW1 in France. Before arriving here, I hadn’t realized how different parts of the world are affected differently by various events throughout history and the world. I’ve never thought much about WW1, let alone celebrating its end because it isn’t celebrated in the U.S., and that’s because we weren’t hugely involved in the First World War. However, France was the site of the Western Front and where the war was decided in November 1918. The first WWI had a major economic and environmental impact on the country and shook France and the surrounding nations. It makes me think about how history can create diverging values and develop new points of view or cause future events to occur like a butterfly effect. I thought about how I’d never heard about a WW1 commemoration, but practically the entire world knows about 9/11 and several other American events. France is a global superpower, but the contrast goes to show the vastness of America’s influence on the world. Studying the First World War at SYA made me realize how crucial it is as Americans to travel out of the states and to experience different ways of life and new cultures because the media, the news, politics, etc is hyper-centered around us and, in turn, we lose out on knowing anything other than ourselves. Also, it is important to travel because a narrow mind is doomed to project stereotypes and possess derogatory/degrading depictions of different people and lifestyles.
Post-Seminar Reflection#4 - February 18, 2025
AnaAlicia took action in several different ways, each of which not only benefitted her community, but provided the tools, resources and materials to the community so that it can provide for itself. For example, Nourish My Soul hosts classes on various subjects from planting and growing food to the scientific and mathematical aspects of nutrition. She teaches young people about necessary life skills that have slowly receded out of daily life due to the rapid advancement of technology and machinery so that they can feed themselves and be in control of what goes in their food, how it is grown, etc. AnaAlicia also redistrubutes food from restaurants to the public, supporting those who have limited or no access to (nutritious) meals.
Nourish My Soul aids people and the environment. In her presentation, AnaAlicia touched on the consequences of biodiversity loss and monoculture. Biodiversity in urban regions like cities, is being lost at alarming rates. The dangers of biodiversity decline are severe and will contribute to other climate change-related issues. By maintaining her own garden and teaching other how to grow food, AnaAlicia and her students preserve local biodiversity.
AnaAlicia’s talk reminded me about Mrs. Griggs’ sustainability class because she presented a diagram of the farm-to-table web/cycle. Last year, we took a trip to a dairy farm and learned about the little processes that are overlooked by the consumer that make up the giant system of dairy farming. The web does not start and end with milking cows, people, money, habitats and animals are involved in it, too. It is vital to consider these “invisible” aspects of the process because many are being exploited within in, and as consumers we have the illusion of choice because we are dependant upon large corporations with agricultural monopolies, when we should be investing in smaller, environmentally-concious and humane organizations like family farms and farmers markets.
GESC Electives
- 1 artifact of your choosing (photo of on-campus engagement/an additional course assignment/photo of you in your elective activity/something else you are passionate about – with 2-3 sentences on how this was impactful for you and 2-3 sentences on how it connects to the Alvord Center Matrix).
GESC Experiential Education
Capstone Project
Project Title: and add a link to the project if applicable.
Project rationale
Why is this project important to you/the community? (50-80 words)
Target Audience
Who specifically should use/interact with/engage with your project? Why? Who does your project help? (50-80 words)
Project Process
What steps did you take to pursue/complete your project? What challenges did you face along the way? How did you overcome those challenges? (120-150 words)
Visual Interests
Add images of the project process and/or final product. (There is no minimum number of images, as this is largely based on individual experiences and project trajectories.)
Project Reflection (To be written upon conclusion of your Capstone, 250-300 words)
How do you feel about your final product and its impact? How does your project connect to the Alvord Center Matrix? How did this project help you grow as a global and environmental scholar? How do you envision your project being used in the future?
GESC Reflection (150-300 words)
A response to your statement of intent (yes, from when you enrolled in the GESC!), and how you believe you have grown as a global and environmental scholar at Loomis Chaffee.
(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.