I can honestly say that my college experience would not be the same, thus far, without being a part of ENR. Through the program, I have met new best friends, roommates, and people to depend on.
The highlight of my ENR Scholars experience over the last two years was the second camping trip our first year. I felt that by this point, I had really bonded with a close group of friends. One of the things I remember most was laughing uncontrollably as our tent kept caving in on us from the strong winds. Most people probably don’t see this as a fun, memorable moment, but it was one of the best for me in the last two years.
Something I learned or gained from ENR was a TON about recycling. I thought I had been doing my part before the program, just because I liked the outdoors and saw myself as earth-friendly. I learned from ENR that there is a lot more I could be doing as an individual, and the steps I can take to do this.
My spring 17 project was being a TA for the first-year ENR scholars seminar. My job was to grade select assignments, as well as create a web page full of resources that related to their Earth Month projects. I really enjoyed this project; it made me see myself as having more responsibility, and possibly a role I would want to have for one of my major classes later on. It was also great to read about what the first-years were writing. As far as the assignments I graded, the students really seemed to have a lot of passion behind what they were doing, which was inspiring.
I think the most important thing I gained from this project was staying in touch with ENR in a few different ways. I would find myself on the seminar’s Carmen page just to see which assignments they were doing, which is something I wouldn’t have done otherwise. I also kept up more communication with Amanda and Esther, which was great. I liked doing the web page as well; I felt like I was making a concrete contribution to ENR that future years can use as a resource as well.
The advice I would give to incoming ENR scholars would be to stay involved. I know that I have said this earlier, but I still wasn’t as involved my two years as I would have liked. I think if I would have been more involved and put myself out there more often, I would have gotten to know more people on my floor and been compelled to stay in Morrill my second year. I kept in touch with many people, but ultimately regretted moving my second year. I think this ultimately comes back to being involved from the start. I was pretty shy when I came to college – and the only way to get around that is to practice putting yourself out there.
Overall, I have loved my experience with ENR. Without it, I would not have new best friends, great memories, or many of my future roommates.