My Global & Environmental Identity
- I’m Chelsea Zogo, a Cameroonian-American girl who lives in the U.S. But this introduction is just the surface of who I truly am as a global and environmental citizen of our world. My earliest memory is based in the only Costco in Yonkers, NY. I remember seeing the birds flying high towards the ceiling and being fascinated by how they flew so easily. From that moment, I’ve really felt the most connected in the nature of the world, especially in Cameroon. I come from a long lineage of Cameroonians who have known Cameroon to be their entire world. My parents were the first in their families to settle permanently in the U.S., making my siblings and I the first generation of Cameroonian-Americans in our family. Because of this I understand both French and English. My favorite piece of my identity is the fusion of both cultures expressed both internally and externally. Attending traditional Cameroonian weddings of close family and friends, listening to Makossa frequently, and even partaking in “susu” (community money pooling groups) truly make up who I am as a global citizen. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to truly appreciate the beauty of nature all around me. One of my goals for this year was to better take in nature around me and to fully appreciate what I see and how it works. I’ve done this through my travels to Costa Rica, San Diego, Oaks Bluff, Lakeville, and even New York City. As I reflect on my trips, I realize that I truly appreciated the nature of those places in which I wasn’t distracted by work or social media. That when I fully immersed myself in the people and the quiet stillness of these places, I come to understand how to grow into a better environmental citizens.
Global & Environmental Resume
GESC-designated Courses
- World Hisotry
- Spanish IV
- Philosophy of Nonviolence
- Ceramics I
- CL Enviromental Science
- Graphic Design and Digital Art I
- CL Statistics
- Spanish V: Latin American Short Stories
Elective Courses
- Spanish V: Latin American Civilizations: Throughout this course, we learn about the different governments and ways of life within different Latin American countries. We've also learned about the U.S government's involvement throughout these different periods of Latin American history. We've then applied these countries histories to their present day circumstances and their relationship to the U.S. today.
GESC Experiential Education
Costa Rica International Educational Program: This trip was truly based around Ecotourism and Community Engagement. Throughout our trip, I learned more about coffee production in Costa Rica and saw tangible examples of the country's attempts to being more enviromentally concious and sustainable. During this trip, I also worked with a school to engage with the students through recessa and dance, repaint walls of the school and work in their greenhouse. Additionally, I also worked towards completing a playground for our local community.
If applicable ...
- Diversity Equity and Inclusion Intern: As an intern, I work towards educating myself and the larger Loomis community on different social and enviromental issues both the U.S. and countries across the world face. For example, these topics look can range from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and incompetent water infrastuactures across the U.S. I also facilitate dicussions on how to call people in rather than calling them out, allowing me to enhance my udnerstanding of their opinions and deveop empathy for the context of their responses.
- GEF IEP: Through this program, I develop ideas from my IEP in Costa Rica to integrate into the Loomis Community. This project is very similar to my Capstone Project for the GESC Certificate. I held a Costa Rican dance class on "El Pavo", a folklore dance in which the participants' movements imitate those of a turkey!
Learning Artifacts
GESC Coursework
- This assignment specifically connects to the Alvord Center Matrix by allowing me to seek knowldge and enhance my understanding. In examining the local and enviromental trends of precipitation in and around Joshua Tree Park, I was able to invetigate how human beings played a role in the lack of precipitation in the park. I analyzed the connection between tourists who come to the park, unknowlegable of it's role in the ecosystem, and the loss of species in both plants and animals within Joshua Park. This project was impactful for me because I was able to connect what I was learning in CL Enviromental Science to a topic I have been wanting to learn more about, National Parks. Learning about the immense impact our small actions as human beings can have on the preservation, and essentially existance, of these parks allowed me to better understand the connection between the different facets of enviromental science in both living and non-living organisms.
GESC Seminars
Seminar #2: Going into this trip, I didn’t have personal preconceived notions of what my interactions with the girls at the Islamic Center would look like, because of my own experience with immigration and religious intersections in Cameroon. I went in more interested in their experiences in the U.S. as refugees and in Islam and its practices. I enhanced my understanding of the intrinsic differences between my own religion, Christianity, and Islam, when the Imam of the center spoke to us about why this collaboration truly meant to our communities and the world. He spoke about how Islam is a faith rooted in practice, while Christianity and Judaism are faiths rooted in beliefs. Another example of something I gained from this experience is how invested Islamic centers are in their communities. Before moving to Connecictuct, I used to live by an islamic center and school. But because I had never been inside of one, I never learned what their purpose was besides being a center for prayer and a school for girls. But experiencing the Islamic Center and discussing with the girls at the event truly opened my eyes to see how important the relationship between faith and community is in order to advance both facets. To connect my experience back to the Alvord Center Engaged Citizen Matrix, I learned more about different experiences and reasons for relocating to life in America, helping me enhance my understanding of potential increases of immigration to the U.S. from countries experiencing similar issues and violence as those of girls I conversed with during our trip.
Seminar #4: Robin Okonuwo took action in her creation of a dual degree in environmental studies and phychology, as well as her participation as an intern of the Captain Planet Foundation. The solution she presented in achieving common good and environmental justice was beginning with an idea. Our ideas don’t have to be so grand that they ameloriate the issue completely, but they can be just enough to begin chipping away at the problem, little by little. This event has made me curious to want to seek knowledge about and examine how the local facets of my community intersect with the environmental aspect. For example, in relation to how the location of factories that contribute large amounts of air pollution in my city, I want to further research how its environmental injustices connect to its history as a redlined city in Connecticut. Our conversation has also allowed me to want to take action by engage in civil discourse to raise awareness and understanding of the intersection of social justice and enviromental justice. A phrase of Robin’s that really resonated with me was “There can’t be social justice without environmental justice.” As I grow was a Global and Enviromental scholar, I want to begin naturally connecting my knowledge of global communities with the environment.
- Your post-seminar reflections from Seminar #2, #4 and #5 assignment. Note that we may ask you to revisit/revise your writing as your portfolio comes together.
GESC Electives
GESC Experiential Education
Capstone Project
Cooking Adventures with Chichi and Chelsea
Project rationale
This project is important to me because it served as a unique and interactive way to share aspects of my Cameroonian and African culture with the Loomis Chaffee community. This project also helped bring students who experience these African cultures and those who are unfamiliar with them together to form a community.
Target Audience
I don't believe there is a specific audience that should engage with my project. Because we covered multiple regions in Africa, students and faculty both in and out of the African diaspora can learn about a culture other than their own. My project helps African students who feel as if their cultures are sometimes overlooked on the Loomis Chaffee campus feel as if they are seen.
Project Process
Our first step was to begin planning out what foods, from the different African regions, we wanted to showcase in our classes. Taking the cultures of current African Loomis students in mind, we decided on 4 meals. Then we had to begin discussions of funding for our project, in terms of buying groceries and the cooking supplies we needed for prep and execution. From there, we began making flyers for the classes, writing up the historical and cultural backgrounds of the meals we chose, and finally executing these classes. A challenge that we faced was managing our time to buy groceries, preparing for the classes, and hosting the classes. We saw from our first class that we had spent a lot of time on these steps. We weren't able to fully overcome this challenge, as these steps were necessary to host these classes. But we did spread out our tasks throughout the week ahead of when we were hosting our classes. This made the load seem less heavy as we were getting closer to our class dates.
Visual Interest
Project Reflection (To be written upon conclusion of your Capstone, 250-300 words)
When I think of my final project, I think of each of Chichi and I's cooking classes, while my cookbook acts as the tangible item to showcase the experiences of our participants, the history and culture of the foods we made, and the sense of community we in each of these classes. These classes impacted both African students and non-African students alike. In coming together to learn how to cook these dishes, the participants, Chichi, and I left with new techniques for cooking, a better understanding of the cultures of whose foods we were recreating, and a rewarding sense of bonding. Our project connects to the Alvord Center Matrix through the pillars of "Seeking Knowledge", "Enhancing Understanding", and "Developing Skills". Our participants sought knowledge by attending our classes to explore other's cultural identities. They enhanced their understanding by developing empathy for others' perspectives, listening to Chichi and I share the historical and cultural context of the dishes, and interacting with the cooking process themselves. Finally, our participants developed skills by adapting to new challenges, whether because of their unawareness of the cultures or in practicing the skill of cooking. They also sought opportunities for collaboration and expanded their open-communication techniques. This project helped me grow as a global and environmental scholar, expanding my lens of African cuisine outside of my country. I know a bit more about foods from South and East African than when I first began my capstone project. I envision my project being used to recreate the dishes we shared for students wanting to try something new or get together with friends over food.
GESC Reflection
I believe I have accomplished more than what I had intended to from the time of writing my statement of intent. The program truly is a space beyond the classroom for students to explore cultural and environmental passions that they were previously unfamiliar with. In my experience, I truly grew to be a global and environmental citizen on my trip to Costa Rica. In understanding how Costa Rica cares for its soils to upkeep their coffee production, seeing the importance of coming together to brainstorm and implement innovative global solutions for the common good, and learning about Costa Rican history, I was able to apply the skills I had learned at Loomis beyond the island. There were various opportunities for me to grow as a global and environmental scholar at Loomis, both through classes and extracurricular activities. Through my work as an intern working on the Slavery at Loomis Project, taking CL Environmental Science and CL Race in America and Spanish 4, Loomis provided me with multiple avenues to explore the global and environmental context of Loomis Chaffee and the world around us. This was another one of the goals I had shared in my statement of intent. I have read various English texts in the past 2 years about different cultural experiences as well as traveled with the Alvord Center through the IEP program. Overall, I am grateful to Loomis Chaffee for all of the expansive and engaging opportunities for me to grow and continue growing in the global and environmental school I am and aspire to be.