My Global & Environmental Identity
My desire to be a good eco-citizen is encompassed by my peaceful experiences garnered by spending time in nature, my first-hand witnessing of the effects of climate change and carbon emissions on my home, and my admiration of nature’s beauty. Over this summer (June to August 2023), I was privileged to experience a once-in-a-lifetime camp at Martha’s Vineyard. My sought-after exploration and rejuvenating of my faith, coupled with living in an electronically detached world in the forests of Martha’s Vineyard for a week, not only helped me appreciate and learn extensively about my faith but also appreciate the connections and experiences that can be genuinely created outside of the technological world while embracing the environment’s resources. The peace I was able to experience through seemingly simple activities like enjoying the beach, doing Bible study while overlooking a lake with friends, and having to form solely face-to-face connections helped me gain a newfound appreciation for our world. Prior to this event, a determination to be a better global citizen stemmed from experiencing “black soot” in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. Black soot is a product of carbon emission that causes black particles to consistently fall from the sky while consecutively contaminating the air. Due to the incompetence of the government in my city and the lack of precautions taken while burning tires and processing crude oil, these actions have resulted in a grave increase in respiratory conditions in certain parts of the city where the people do not have access to better health care. Not only has it affected our environment, but also the people living in it. These positive and negative experiences, coupled with several other factors, have inspired me to be a better global and environmental citizen while I can. This year in the GESC program, I hope to find better ways to help my environment and global space.
Global & Environmental Resume
GESC-designated Courses
- French 4 (11th grade)
- World History
- History of the Present
- Graphic design and Digital art
- CL Statistics
- CL History Seminar: Immigration and ethnicity in the United States
- French 5:Modern Writer
Elective Courses
- French 5: Global challenges in the Francophone world. This course explains the challenges in the francophone world relating to issues like racism, police violence, immigration, and other issues that affect the diversity of Francophone people every day.
GESC Experiential Education
My experiential education was impeded by a family emergency.
If applicable ...
- Ikogosi Warm Springs Resort: In middle school, I had the opportunity to visit the Ikogosi Springs in the southwestern part of Nigeria. This is a naturally hot and cold spring. The hot and cold springs meet at a confluence without mixing, which attracts people from around the world. During this trip, we had the opportunity to hike, and converse with locals while immersing ourselves in a nature exploration program while educating ourselves on the history of this spring. This trip exposed me to some of Nigeria's natural beauties that are wrapped in deep culture.
Learning Artifacts
GESC Coursework
- This is my graphic design and digital art portfolio
- https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/design/urn:aaid:sc:US:02af94df-c340-4eb6-8251-91b190a692e9?category=photos
- This assignment allowed me to take action, enhance my understanding of my city, and further educate my peers on the positive and negative aspects of my city. This project allowed me to connect my love for story-telling, photography, and my country while using the diverse features of Adobe Photoshop to portray all aspects of Port-Harcourt . This project highlights and dives into the Alvord center matrix of "exploring one's cultural and environmental identity under the theme of seeking knowledge. Through this project, I learned more about the effects of carbon emissions on my city and reviewed multiple personal experiences and stories of what made Port-Harcourt, what it is for other people. This assignment was immensly impactful to me because it allowed me gain a new sense of appreciation for my city while educating people about a place I have called home for years.
GESC Seminars
- Seminar #2 - This was an amazing field trip. I truly enjoyed learning about the immigrant experience directly from the girls who were immigrants themselves and from the girls whose parents were immigrants as well. Witnessing the diversity, even with similar and shared experiences, and the community they had built for themselves despite the various challenges they constantly faced baffled me. Their optimistic take on life and important advice about college and the college process inspired me to think about my future as well. Being able to relate to a lot of them on the culture shock that we encountered while assimilating into the US, being young for the grades they were in, or their views on certain aspects of life showed me how much we can be united as a people without the social constructs of discrimination and segregation that habours within our society. Furthermore, experiencing the love that radiated through the sharing of their food, tradition, and religion was such a poignant experience. Being able to seek knowledge about the different cultures and enhance my understanding of their ways of life through religion and individuality inspired me to connect on a more personal level with cultures different from mine.
Seminar #4: I loved Ameen Mokdad’s performance and life story. It was so inspiring to see how he let his artistic competence, talent, and beauty persevere and preserve him through a time of war and constant fear. He took action by transforming his pain, his thoughts, what he stood for, and his feelings into beautiful music that was able to reach a greater audience and educate the world about the crisis occurring in Iraq due to ISIS. Instead of fighting, or joining the invasive rule of ISIS, he risked his life to create music to document his emotions and tell his story. He has used this story to inspire dancers and filmmakers around him as well. So his actions have not just alleviated some of his pain and benefited him but those around him as well. His actions impact change globally, as the truth behind ISIS is spreading across the world through a common love for art. He is also encouraging people to channel their pain and feelings into beneficial and beautiful ways. This seminar inspired me to learn an instrument and learn more about other people’s personal experiences under the rule of ISIS.
Through his beautiful work, impactful stories, and friendly demeanor, I learned that it is never too late to learn something new and excel at it greatly because he started learning how to play instruments when he was grown and past his teenage years and now plays effortlessly. This seminar also taught me to not let a negative experience stop me from persevering because even after he thought he had lost his music or was about to lose his life, he continued to persevere. This has impacted me as I continue to take action during my capstone project. Not letting a downfall hinder the successes to come.
GESC Electives
I participated in this lab during my microbiology class in my fall term of senior year. This lab and the process of phage hunting opened me up to a new world of possibilities in the realm of research and unlocked a new dimension of interest within me. Through this lab, I was able to delve into the Alvord Center Matrix to seek knowledge as I learned the process of phage hunting and how to produce bacteria-eating viruses in the lab.
GESC Experiential Education
N/A
Capstone Project
African cooking classes: https://loomischaffeeschool-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/cndzana-zogo_internal_loomis_org/ET4ENd4IvPVNh-5GVdSeHvsB2aQnEhHl9RgHrDVDxvyHXA?e=F6Xyge
Project rationale
This project is immensely important to me because it has created an avenue for me to share my culture with the greater Loomis community. Beyond my culture and my love for cooking, it also exposed me to other African cultures, which has aided me in expanding my cultural horizon. These cooking classes are also important to the Loomis community because they created an opportunity for Loomis students to see an aspect of African culture beyond the media’s portrayal.
Target Audience
I truly believe that everyone should engage with this project. African or not, this project would expose its recipients to different cultures. Our cookbook, which is a compilation of our project, would be beneficial for anyone looking to try new tasty meals and snacks. Our cookbook would also expose it’s users to fun facts and the cultural backgrounds of our dishes.
Project Process
This project was mainly successful because of all the behind-the-scenes work that was done. We began our preparation for this project by budgeting and buying all our non-perishable ingredients. To share the word and invite people to experience the African cultures highlighted by our cooking class, we crafted and put informational posters around campus. We also wrote daily bulletin blurbs to get our word around more effectively. Before every cooking class, we prepared all the ingredients that could be put together to move more efficiently through the class time. Amid our success, we were also faced with challenges. The preparation time for each class and the time we used to clean up were huge time commitments in comparison to the actual time of the class. We overcame this challenge by streamlining the number of dishes we made in one class as we proceeded with the project.
Visual Interests
Project Reflection (To be written upon conclusion of your Capstone, 250-300 words)
I am very excited and grateful to God for the outcome of our final project. It came out better than we ever imagined. Our project connects to the Alvord Center’s matrix by addressing the GESC objective of “enhancing understanding.” Through our cooking classes, we were able to enlighten and educate our community on the diversity within the African community through food. We were also able to share the communal culture of sharing and cooking food together through the interactive factor of our cooking classes. By working hands-on in the kitchen, students who attended these classes were able to personalize these learning experiences for themselves. We simultaneously addressed the GESC objective to “take action” by educating ourselves through personal research on the historical significance of varying African cuisines. We were also actively engaging in informative conversations with fellow African peers on the importance of food in their respective cultures to accurately represent their cultures. Furthermore, we invited the Loomis Chaffee community to “take action” on our project through appropriate advertisement. This project helped me grow greatly as a global and environmental scholar because it exposed me to cultures and new methods of cooking I was not familiar with. This project augmented my understanding of sustainable and healthy practices within other African cultures while making certain meals or snacks. For example, Zitumbuwa, which was our Malwain snack, uses bananas to create a healthy but sweet street food for people in Malawi. I envision this project being used by my African affinity group, faculty, and students who are willing to explore and try new food and by anyone curious about the greater African community.
GESC Reflection (150-300 words)
I truly believe that I have grown tremendously as a global and environmental scholar. My cultural, financial, economic, historical, and geographical horizons have been gravely enlarged. Within my statement of intent, I emphasized my desire to educate myself on the world beyond me. Through my capstone project, our global and environmental seminars, and conversations with other students and faculty, I am confident that I have accomplished this goal. During my capstone project, I educated myself on African cultures beyond mine, and through food, I viewed a snippet of other people’s cultures. Through educational yet emotional seminars like the conversation with musician, Ameen Mokdad, I understood the contrast between the beauty and calamities of other nations. With informative seminars like Dr. Fisher’s, “Economics of Climate Change”, I was prompted to reflect on my actions as a global citizen and their effects on the world around me. The plethora of opportunities within the GESC program created a ticket for me to explore the world from our little corners here at Loomis.
Finishing Touches
Check spelling/grammar, check links, and insert some images to enhance visual interest.