Wrapping It Up: Final Class Entry

Overall Course Reflections

Looking back, this has definitely been one of my favorite graduate classes. This is the type of stuff I want to be involved in when I graduate, not economics and statistics. I know all that is important but this is the meat of what I want to do with my life. I loved the wide range of topics we got to cover and wish we could have covered them more in depth. What I really would love to see would be specific courses taught about those topics in SPEA. A whole course on green building? Amazing! A whole course on waste reduction and recycling? Terrific! I would be in heaven!

The set up of the class was different from every course I have taken thus far, so that was refreshing. I liked that it was so open and not simply a lecture and take notes type of class. The fact that there were not exams always helps too.

Otherwise, I loved learning how to use Blogger. I had never used it before. My family even follows me to see how my personal project is going. Overall, I got to learn some new social media skills that will be important in the future.

Personal Project Evaluation

The personal project was a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting to challenge myself throughout the semester. Doing this project gives our class something to really work with while interviewing for jobs. If I apply for an active transportation job, I can tell them all about what it is like to bike to work, because I have personally done it. I talk a lot more about this topic in my final personal project blog. 

I wish we made more of an emphasis of updates on the projects in class. I am not going to go and read every person in the class's project updates on their blogs. I do not check blogs and stuff so I have no idea what is going on with everyone. It would have been nice if at least once we went around and talked about how our project was going.

Sustainability and Beyond

My perception of sustainability has changed for the better over the course of the semester. I have taken sustainability related classes (like E400 Topics in Sustainability)  before, and have worked and blogged in the field (like for the EPA about the Super Bowl), but this course offered me good amounts of information about multiple topics. Having the different ideas and opinions of my like-minded peers really helped shape my view of sustainability. Even now I find sustainability hard to describe.  It is not just preserving our resources for present and future generations. There are so many other factors that go into that.

Who knows, I might end up in DC working on this stuff!

Some of the topics we covered in class definitely painted a grim outlook for the future if we do nothing now, but learning about all the different ways we can overcome climate change and the like helps me realize that there really is hope, that there can be change, it just might take a while or some genius SPEA students to fix that. 

The biggest lasting effect that I gained from this class will be the experiences I had. My personal project of becoming a bike commuter is something that I can always talk about in interviews and can apply to whatever my future career ends up being (Especially important if I am in active transportation). On that same note, having been involved in filling out the Walkability Assessment can be a valuable tool to me in the future. 

I totally want a Victory Garden.

Of course I was able to integrate my knowledge of sustainable communities in my own life and I always try to integrate it into others lives as well, even if they do not want my input. I am trying to live a more sustainable life, which is sometimes hard when you are at school. There are things you just have to accept (like my apartment I am renting) and then there are things you can change (like how I am commuting to work). I have the knowledge though, to integrate more when I do start my own life outside of school. At that point, I will have the money and the knowledge to make the right decisions. And if I do not have the knowledge I need, I now know where to get it.

My cohorts have taught me that there are many new things I want to try! I would love to learn how to preserve and can food from the Farmer's Market, to eat more locally, grow my own food, compost, and should probably learn how to cook more too. It gives me confidence that if my classmates can attempt these things, then I can too! As I said above, these are some things I hope to finally focus on once I am done with school.