Keep the Earth in Mind

In our Honors Praxis lab, we read David Orr's Earth in Mind and were asked ot make a reflection on the piece, I have included mine here and I think it is worth a read!

This chapter from David Orr's Earth in Mind was extremely interesting. The portion that stuck out the most to me was when he stated that the educational system is extremely segregated. All of the students are trained within a specific discipline, and are taught to completely ignore other disciplines that are relevant to it. This is exactly the kind of education most people are receiving at a university in this day in age. I find it truly appalling that things such as climate change have become a part of a political party, instead of something that everyone is educated on so that we can change it. Orr states that we need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It is time for us to start loving and taking care of the world that cares for us.

All education is environmental education. This is simply a fact. All students are educated to work with their environment, just not the environment in its entirety. So, in order to change the world, we need to change the way we learn, and start considering the issues from every single possible angle. We can no longer perform actions without considering the consequences. There are byproducts to every action that is taken, and it is time to start taking responsibility for these. For example, a cap and trade would work wonderfully for carbon emissions. There would be a certain amount of emissions allowed for each company, and if any company would go over this quota, they would be taxed rather expensively. However, companies that use much less emissions could sell more to companies that want more, and they would make a profit. Hopefully, it would all balance out in the end.

In order for all students to be educated from all angles to include all disciplines, our educators must be able to provide this information to us. Also, there must be institutions willing to provide this kind of education to their students, embodying all ideals of every discipline. There should NO longer be the drive to be “successful,” but instead to find ourselves and make a credible difference in the world. I think that I am one of the more fortunate students in a university that has been able to take classes from many different disciplines, so that I have a rare view from different angles. I am a Biology major with a chemistry and also a French minor. I also am receiving an honors certificate, so I am right in saying that I have taken classes from almost all of the colleges on campus. I have not taken a business, architecture, or art class, but I am certain that my education would have benefitted from all of these. Every student should be exposed to this type of education, even if it takes more than 4 years; it is definitely worth the while.