The highlight of the past two years was the spring camping trip in 2016. After taking a much longer hike than planned and having my shoes melted while trying to dry them, I was able to connect with others and form close friendships. That night, me and my roommate/tentmate stayed up laughing at some stupid joke and annoyed the entire rest of the camp. I will always keep the joke and that night in fond memory.
Due to ENR scholars, I learned how to find different forms of help when I needed them. This will be more useful to me than any of the environmental awareness programs we learned about, but it wasn’t something you can teach in a class room. I gained the awareness to realize when something was wrong, and I got the confidence to ask for help. If I were to go back, I would undoubtedly join ENR scholars again.
My spring 17 project was working on my research project that I started in spring 16 with the Peterman Lab. I was able to join this lab because of the connections I made with ENR. So far, it has helped me nail down a work schedule and given me a drive to get my work done. At the same time, it has helped me realize that I most likely do not want to go into academia.
In parting, the advice I would give to future ENR scholars is this: work to find how you truly connect with the scholars program. This might be with the ideas that are presented in class or joining a club that does something you are passionate about. For me, it is my spontaneous meetings with Amanda where we talk about anything and everything that have helped me truly connect with scholars. If you cannot glean anything from being in scholars, you are not digging deep enough, or have not found how to connect yet. That does not mean that you will not, but it means that it may take work. Working for how you connect is not easy, but it will be one of the more rewarding experiences of your life when it happens. In closing, I hope that ENR scholars can provide for other first and second years what it did for me: community, self empowerment, and a change in world view.