By McMillan, Semester 62
The first week of our Bridged Curriculum is all about origin stories. Students read origin stories from many cultures and discuss their meaning and impact. They then are given an assignment in Environmental Science Class to write their own “Science Origin Story,” which you can read below.
My curiosity and admiration for science and the natural world began when I was about three and spent all my time outdoors, helping my parents cultivate the land we lived on and working with plants and animals to feed our community.
Even before I could walk, I was outside on a farm held on my mother‘s back while she worked. Harvesting, washing, planting in the continuous cycle of farming. I was raised with the privilege of knowing where my food came from, whether it be the chickens we slaughtered, or the kale we picked together. I learned to respect my food sources because I knew them well, and so grew to be curious about how the systems around me worked.
Whether I was searching for red efts under rotting logs, or gathering hemlock and wintergreen for tea, I was learning and amassing a store of information I didn’t think I needed until I was posed with the question of what I want to pursue, in school and in life. This forced me to pause, to think about how I’ve spent my time, and how I want to spend it in the future. Having a deep understanding of the systems around me, an understanding of how things function, is where my scientific curiosity comes from.
I don’t know that there has been a specific moment where something clicked and I cared about the environment. I think it was something that I always had, but had to come to realize. Growing up the way I did, with an understanding of how a healthy relationship between humans and nature can work, has fostered a need for a deeper connection to the world around me. I achieve that through science, which can give me that deeper connection. Being curious, asking questions, caring about the environment around me, comes naturally to me, and by being curious, I create a stronger relationship with my habitat and myself.
