reflection

My favorite guest lecturer this past semester was Bill Allen from the schools of CAFNR and Journalism.  He spoke about our impact on the world and what we have done and will do one day.  When I think of my future I always think and hope about the positive impact I will make.  This impact would be through my career and people I will give my time to help.  I have always been driven by serving others and am going into a career of cause marketing starting this March.  However after hearing Bill Allen speak I started to think of the impact I would really make.

I still plan of creating change in the world through service, but I never truthfully thought about my impact on the environment.  I always think about person-to-person interaction in regard to helping others.  After this lecture I realized that changing my daily activities to help heal the environmental issues we are facing would impact so many more people at once.

He was very inspiring to me because this was a lecture that no student could say, “it doesn’t apply to me”.  We all leave a legacy and part of it will be our environmental impact.  After the useful sites on our water footprint day to day and throughout our life, I was stunned.  I never understood how much water was used simply to grow the food we eat.  I always thought that I should only be concerned about the length of my shower, and turning of the faucet when brushing my teeth.

My reason for wanting and needing to make a lifestyle change is for the future.  One day people are going to be rationing water in a more extreme manner than California has faced.  This will change the lifestyles we live, our children live, and their children live.  Swimming pools to green lawns will cease to exist, and it breaks my heart that someone won’t have the beautiful experiences I have had.  Because of this I know I need to make a change.  This change may not make a large difference, but even if it makes a slight change I’ll be proud.  If everyone made a small change, it would create a bigger difference.

While it is going to be very difficult to change my lifestyle completely I know I have a moral obligation to do so.  I have an obligation to my future children, my earth, and my health.  While researching about sustainability it really let me dive into my research on Peru.  Peru is known for Machu Pichu and its beauty.  The main tourist attraction will cease to exist is the environment continues to plummet.  This would cause Peru to no longer thrive.  In addition, I researched the affect the current storm El Nino will have on Peru.  Peru will face mud slides, destruction, and heavy rains.  This environmental impact is due to the heating of the ocean.

While we cannot stop the progression of the heating of the world, we can slow the progression through our individual lifestyle changes. Overall I loved this class, especially professor Brooks.  He had such insight into globalization from all of his life experiences.  I hope to live a life full of adventure, as he has!