Alumni update extravaganza!

Sarah Mack - 2017

If you asked me one year ago where I would be in one year I would NEVER say that I would be working for a former NJ Senator. Life has a crazy way of making you think you know what is coming next, but then throwing a wrench in things and pushing you in a whole new direction. 

Learning and Wild Rice and Why

I don’t like when I’m not doing anything. When a was a child, I remember the times I sat at the kitchen table staring at my mom and telling her I was bored. She’d respond with some things I could do and I would eventually find a way to keep myself occupied. Even when I visit home from college, I think my mom gets a little nervous, knowing that she is going to watch me go up and down the stairs and drive here and there to stay busy. When she sees me getting antsy, she says, “It’s okay to just relax you know.” I make the time for that too, but more often than not, I will do what it takes to stay on the move- to feel like I’m learning something and doing something new.

Sharing What You Love

Growing up, I was exposed to a lot of creative activities, my parents were very interested in teaching me how to cook, draw, write, read, sew, etc. When thinking about what I wanted to write for this weeks blog that would focus on my hobbies and how they relate to and inspire my research, I was somewhat stumped on exactly what I woud write about since I have a variety of hobbies and interests. However, when I think back on some of my earliest memories, they always involve homecooked food, or getting to watch my parents prepare to cater a banquet for work. 

Just Figuring It All Out Really

A quick shot from the bridge. 

As my senior year of college inches closer and closer, I become increasingly preoccupied with next steps-- When do I take the GRE? Should I wait a year or five for grad school? What part of the country (or world) do I want to make my home post-graduation? Then there's the dreaded existentials, fraught with self-doubt. For example: Will an environmental studies degree qualify me for a job I'd want? Am I cut out for a 9-5? Do I even know myself well enough to pick a career at all?

With graduation on the horizon and the number of middle-aged+ relatives regularly asking for my future plans increasing every day, it seems to me that while I know what I love to do, I don't yet understand unequivocally what I love enough to step confidently forward in any particular direction. Indeed, the hardest part of college, and one of the biggest sources of self-doubt in my life, was the selection of my major. Sure I love the environment, but do I love it more than any of the other things I care about? More than Women's Rights? More than Human Rights? More than World Peace? Honestly, I'm still not sure.

Golden hour on the Red Cedar Trail. 

But in the internal conversation I'm perpetually having with myself, I've identified one common thread: human beings. I care very deeply for people--which, ironically, hasn't always translated (and still doesn't always) into a love of human interaction--not in the cliché "I'm friends with everyone," but in a way that propels me to speak out against injustice, and seek out opportunities to learn more about the ways human beings mistreat one another. One of the biggest reasons I decided to pursue environmental studies and not environmental science (other than avoiding taking more calculus than is absolutely necessary) is because I am much more interested in how denigrated environments disproportionately affect vulnerable populations and the broader environmental justice movement than I am in pure environmental science.

Blue skies over the Red Cedar.

During the Fall Semester of 2017, I got the opportunity to conduct original research (of both the qualitative and quantitative variety) with a group of my peers, and I fell in love with qualitative research methods. I love using interviewing as a tool to better understand individual narrative and to more deeply conceptualize individual choice and experience, which is a big part of the reason I decided to come to the Lakes REU. In this way, I am hoping to learn more about qualitative research methods as a way to gather, collect, and understand individual behavior in an effort to solve some of society's most complex environmental issues. And while I can't promise that this is my life's calling, I know I'll enjoy myself along the way. As always, here's my week in pictures. Thanks for reading!

A Perfect Summer Day...

            A perfect summer day for me would be 80 degrees with a nice breeze.  I would jump on my bike and ride like 8 miles along a bike trail.  The trail would have people of all kinds riding their bikes, jogging, or taking strolls with their families.  Everyone would take their garbage and either recycle, compost or throw it into the right garbage bins.  This trail would be right along a lake and have the right amount of tree coverage.  I would stop a couple of time and just take in the beauty of the outdoors; snap a couple of pictures each time and continue my ride.  And best of all, no mosquitoes anywhere! 

Environment Through a Camera Lens

If you ask my friends and family what I like to do for fun, they’ll all tell you that I am an avid photographer. Five years ago I got my first camera (Canon Rebel T3i) because my family’s old one broke, and we needed to be able to take high def pictures on special occasions. I first played with the camera like it was a toy, pressing the buttons and twisting the lens back and forth. I didn’t know what I was doing and wanted to take pictures properly without the automatic settings, so I surfed the Internet for countless hours watching YouTube tutorials and reading about aperture, focal length, ISO, shutter speed, composition, etc. To practice what I’ve learned, I brought my camera with me everywhere I went (in one year I took about 2500 photos) to the point that everyone knew about my hobby. People started to ask and even paid me to take pictures for them, from family portraits to senior pics. I saved money from these small gigs to buy better equipment, and over the years my collection has grown to 2 camera bodies and 5 lenses.

A Canoe for an Office

When I think of childhood I imagine running through farm fields, climbing trees and swimming in a mucky pond full of leeches and snapping turtles.  My warmest memories smell like rain, fresh cut hay and pine sap.  Years later, these are still what I hold dearest.