It takes me a long time to make a decision, and when I finally do, I follow through. At my worst this makes me both indecisive AND stubborn: every time someone asks me what I want to do after I graduate is a personal crisis because even though I understand career choices aren't a straight line, I can't jump the hurdle that whatever I choose could be permanent. I usually come up with the weak answer, "I haven't really had enough classes to decide," or "something involved in sustainability." That works now, but what about when I have to choose electives? Or when I'm actually graduating?
One of my biggest fears is selling out. I'm a compassionate person, but a little bit of an idealist. If I become a professional engineer or a project manager, it's possible that I could be working on projects that directly oppose my views on sustainability and social issues. One example of this is that I was recently reading a booklet sent out by a company advertising resilient cities, and showed off plans about big urban centers and new neighborhoods. On the surface, this was exciting: a private sector company that cared about making our cities more environmentally friendly seemed too good to be true. However, in an effort to sell their ideas, they discuss how much the rent would rise as an added benefit. With this, you have to wonder if we have an issue making green communities inclusive to people who can't afford higher rent.
This was in the middle of my internship, where I was learning about the cut-throat construction industry-- I came to realize that the profit driven nature of the private sector strays too far from my values. Owners generally go for the lowest bidder. Who decides what projects I work on, and who they're going to benefit? Even if I am working at a company that won a huge sustainability project, would my team be as interested in making an impact, or will they just be looking for a paycheck?
I've also thought about the public sector, but that also lacks some agency (pun not intended). I can't imagine how employees at the EPA feel in our political climate if they went in hoping to make an impact. However, I have not immersed myself in this side yet and want to do so before I decide that it is also not for me.
Another option I've been seriously considering is furthering my education and getting a PhD, perhaps in a field other than engineering. My practical training in engineering may translate well if I were to end up at a think take like the Earth Institute or UCLA, but becoming a tenured professor is a bit of a gamble. I do love technical writing, and I'm hoping to get some undergraduate research experience in to see if I love it enough to put that much money and time into extra schooling. I also enjoy teaching.
It's apparent I have an internal conflict going on about what my values really are. I want to be able to sustain myself AND the planet, but I'm not sure how feasibly I can get both. At this point, with three years left of undergrad, I'm just trying to get my hands on any exposure possible and talk to a wide variety of people in various aspects of industry.
Showing posts with label Sustainability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sustainability. Show all posts
Monday, August 6, 2018
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
A Love/Hate Relationship With My Car
I moved a lot as a kid but I always lived in the suburbs (or as I like to call it, purgatory). Therefore, public transportation was awful, nothing was walking distance, and I always had to rely on my parents to drive me everywhere, which didn't always happen.
That means, when I finally found a car, it revolutionized my life. Suddenly, the possibilities were endless, and I could go and see my friends whenever I wanted to. I could go to the beach. I could get boba. I could go to the library. No more waiting for Mom to pick me up from band practice! I remember my family had me pick up Starbucks a couple days after I got my license and it was the first time driving without someone else in the passenger's seat. When I realized I wasn't going to crash and actually knew how to drive, I turned up the music and sang at the top of my lungs.
But here's the catch: I'm in Southern California. And, if you've ever lived here, you'll know first hand that the traffic is the worst in the world. At first I was staying local: I didn't get on the freeway for a whole year and stayed in my town and the surrounding areas. I didn't mind driving at this time because most of my friends were a couple miles away.
Of course the time came when I had to start using the freeway. My radius expanded: my new found freedom multiplied. My road rage started.
I'm not the kind of person who will actually confront drivers who do something stupid, but most people in the car with me know that half the time I'm screaming and swearing at everybody. At the stoplight. At the dude who just cut me off. At the lady who's tailgating me. At the traffic that came out of nowhere (and boy, does it come out of nowhere). It's taken on its own character, as sometimes I'll sing Frozen when I'm trying to keep a Suburban from passing me on the right. "Don't let them in, don't let them see!"
Maybe it's because my car is so small and I can be easily taken advantage of; maybe I just don't have to drive much while I'm at school so when I do I can't stand it. Either way, I've really come to dislike driving. Going 85+ on an open freeway is one thing but LA traffic...
So I've come to really dislike driving.
My awareness about sustainability hasn't really helped with that, either. When I drive a lot, I am actively killing planet. New roads are constructed, and then get congested, so we have to build more new roads. And yet, cars are continually made a priority over bike lanes or train tracks.
It gives me a good perspective, though: I have to drive, and so do millions of other people. There are only so many hours in a day and ultimately it's the fastest way to get from point A to point B. We could definitely deal with cutting down, though: I took the train to LA last week and it was excellent. But individuals can only do so much until cities make decisions to make sustainable options more accessible and more efficient.
That means, when I finally found a car, it revolutionized my life. Suddenly, the possibilities were endless, and I could go and see my friends whenever I wanted to. I could go to the beach. I could get boba. I could go to the library. No more waiting for Mom to pick me up from band practice! I remember my family had me pick up Starbucks a couple days after I got my license and it was the first time driving without someone else in the passenger's seat. When I realized I wasn't going to crash and actually knew how to drive, I turned up the music and sang at the top of my lungs.
But here's the catch: I'm in Southern California. And, if you've ever lived here, you'll know first hand that the traffic is the worst in the world. At first I was staying local: I didn't get on the freeway for a whole year and stayed in my town and the surrounding areas. I didn't mind driving at this time because most of my friends were a couple miles away.
Of course the time came when I had to start using the freeway. My radius expanded: my new found freedom multiplied. My road rage started.
I'm not the kind of person who will actually confront drivers who do something stupid, but most people in the car with me know that half the time I'm screaming and swearing at everybody. At the stoplight. At the dude who just cut me off. At the lady who's tailgating me. At the traffic that came out of nowhere (and boy, does it come out of nowhere). It's taken on its own character, as sometimes I'll sing Frozen when I'm trying to keep a Suburban from passing me on the right. "Don't let them in, don't let them see!"
Maybe it's because my car is so small and I can be easily taken advantage of; maybe I just don't have to drive much while I'm at school so when I do I can't stand it. Either way, I've really come to dislike driving. Going 85+ on an open freeway is one thing but LA traffic...
So I've come to really dislike driving.
My awareness about sustainability hasn't really helped with that, either. When I drive a lot, I am actively killing planet. New roads are constructed, and then get congested, so we have to build more new roads. And yet, cars are continually made a priority over bike lanes or train tracks.
It gives me a good perspective, though: I have to drive, and so do millions of other people. There are only so many hours in a day and ultimately it's the fastest way to get from point A to point B. We could definitely deal with cutting down, though: I took the train to LA last week and it was excellent. But individuals can only do so much until cities make decisions to make sustainable options more accessible and more efficient.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Mainstream Sustainability
Before I start this post I just want to make a statement that I am not an expert on social issues nor environmental issues. Much of my knowledge comes from simple exposure to discussions held on a college campus in class or with friends. As always, anyone is welcome to provide information that I have missed or an argument that I didn't cover.
My favorite definition of sustainability is the simplest, and it comes from the Brundtland Report of 1987: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It's the most literal, and it implies that whether you interpret this as the future of your country, your children, or the state of the Earth, sustainability isn't optional: it's a necessity.
However, the problem with something so flexible is that sometimes instead of interpreting ourselves and collecting information, we take our opinions from the media. The mainstream image of sustainability tends to be well off, and frankly white people, who are vegans and drive electric cars.
Now first of all, I could go off on how veganism isn't actually the most sustainable diet, or how electric cars may contribute to more carbon emissions in their battery life cycle. However there's a deeper issue here that sustainability is being marketed to us at a high price.
I'm white and well off myself, and what I say to my parents and neighbors is hey, if you can afford the products that actually help reduce your carbon footprint, then great, but don't push it on other people.
The cold hard truth is, sustainability is about accessibility. The city my school is in has no bike paths, so I have to drive to the grocery store. It's cheaper and more convenient to go to a supermarket than to go to a local farmers market once a week. People who live in cities are probably living more efficiently than a person in the suburbs with solar panels and an electric car because they're walking to work, and walking to get their necessities, or taking public transit. As smoggy as cities are, urbanization makes everything closer together and easier to get to.
Does this mean we should be complacent? No. We need to tell our officials to enact policies that make being sustainable more accessible to the average citizen, and hold corporations responsible for the emissions they're producing. Stop yelling at each other.
As always, if you see any inconsistencies in this post or want to contribute your own ideas, feel free to comment.
My favorite definition of sustainability is the simplest, and it comes from the Brundtland Report of 1987: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." It's the most literal, and it implies that whether you interpret this as the future of your country, your children, or the state of the Earth, sustainability isn't optional: it's a necessity.
However, the problem with something so flexible is that sometimes instead of interpreting ourselves and collecting information, we take our opinions from the media. The mainstream image of sustainability tends to be well off, and frankly white people, who are vegans and drive electric cars.
Now first of all, I could go off on how veganism isn't actually the most sustainable diet, or how electric cars may contribute to more carbon emissions in their battery life cycle. However there's a deeper issue here that sustainability is being marketed to us at a high price.
I'm white and well off myself, and what I say to my parents and neighbors is hey, if you can afford the products that actually help reduce your carbon footprint, then great, but don't push it on other people.
The cold hard truth is, sustainability is about accessibility. The city my school is in has no bike paths, so I have to drive to the grocery store. It's cheaper and more convenient to go to a supermarket than to go to a local farmers market once a week. People who live in cities are probably living more efficiently than a person in the suburbs with solar panels and an electric car because they're walking to work, and walking to get their necessities, or taking public transit. As smoggy as cities are, urbanization makes everything closer together and easier to get to.
Does this mean we should be complacent? No. We need to tell our officials to enact policies that make being sustainable more accessible to the average citizen, and hold corporations responsible for the emissions they're producing. Stop yelling at each other.
As always, if you see any inconsistencies in this post or want to contribute your own ideas, feel free to comment.
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