Student Views

Last weekend was one of the most inspirational and empowering experiences of my life. (I feel like I say this a lot, and I guess that’s a sign that my life is just continually improving.) Power Shift 09 was absolutely amazing. Seventeen SU SEAK-ers joined around 12,000 students from around the country in Washington D.C. with the goal of rallying around clean energy and creative solutions to climate change.

When asked how the conference was, I found it really hard to put into words.  The best way I figured out to describe it was by painting a picture. Imagine this: 12,000 students that are energized and ready to influence our government to act for change; 12,000 students that care about the same issue- saving our planet and its people from self destruction; 12,000 students that believe in changing the world, believe they have the ability to change the world, and have come together to do just that. Then put these 12,000 students into the same room and it’s simply got to feel magical.

A couple billion people spontaneously rallying Saturday night… this mob flowed out into the streets and then eventually marched on the White House. Yes, you read that right. About 3,000 people… in the middle of the night… in the snow. It was fabulous.

The sessions were great - I went to a few that focused on environmental justice issues surrounding indigenous communities in Canada who are dealing with the destruction of their traditional and sacred lands in the quest to feed North America’s addiction to oil. The issue of the tar sands is not talked about nearly enough; it directly threatens not only the culture of Alberta’s native populations but their ability to feed themselves and sustain their communities.

The planners of Power Shift, the Energy Action Coalition, did an awesome job of incorporating environmental justice into the conference. It’s vital that the movement against climate change incorporate the segments of society that are most directly affected by environmental degradation - the people who have coal and nuclear plants in their neighborhoods and strip mining in their back yards. For an awesome talk on environmental justice, check out the keynote speech by Van Jones, founder of Green For All and newly appointed Green Jobs “Czar” for President Obama. (You can skip the first couple minutes of introductions.)

Monday was probably the most dramatic day of the conference: lobby day! About 7,000 students skipped school for the greater good. We stormed capital hill - in the middle of a freaking blizzard, mind you - to lobby our Representatives and Senators to support clean energy, green jobs, and carbon caps. It was pretty amazing, to say the least, but MAN it was cold. My little Texan self was not ready for single digit temperatures and walking around in the snow.

Some SU and UT peeps lobbying Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Monday’s Rally on Capitol Hill

It was an absolutely fabulous weekend and I did not want it to end! But, alas, the snow did not cancel our flight as I secretly hoped.

So I came back home and plunged head first into midterms.

And here’s a snap shot of my life at this moment.

I’ve had three midterms and two papers this week - adding up to around  30 pages of work in four days. It was a bit ridiculous, for sure. And I still have a couple papers to write and some research to do tomorrow.

BUT, in approximately 36 hours, I will be able to breath. And hopefully sleep too.

Before this week, this semester hadn’t been too bad. I am pretty proud of myself for managing my course load fairly well. I’ve had a lot of reading but I really like my classes so it’s been enjoyable. And somehow I made it nine whole weeks into the semester without pulling an all nighter. Not too shabby.

But here’s what I’ve discovered: I’m pretty sure that midterms are just a giant conspiracy on the part of coffee manufacturers to make college students stay awake for an entire week. Professors seem completely willing to oblige by planning all of their work on the same week. It does kind of provide this sense of community and solidarity on campus, though. You see a friend and you don’t even have to ask how they are; it’s all in the eyes. You just know, without exchanging a word, that they are ridiculously cracked out and stressed.

I’ve been able to escape a breakdown, though, by looking toward the light at the end up my dark, damp tunnel: SPRING BREAK!! I’m going on an SU organized camping trip to the Grand Canyon. It’s going to be soooooo great! I’ll for sure have some pictures for you next entry!