In September I experienced. severe eco-anxiety. To the point I describe it as having a mini panic attack. My stomach hurt and I just felt very distressed. This build up led to me organising the boarding house E&S committee to take action and stand with other students around the world also taking action on September 25th for the Global Day of Climate Action.
I knew we couldn’t strike (it was against local law and the terms of our visas) so instead we chose to wear green and put posters up around school (not super sustainable, but we were trying our best). In the end we didn’t make a huge impact, but it helped me relieve my eco-anxiety and I think it empowered others to take action and not simply wait for someone else to start up an initiative.
This leads up to the next Global Day of Climate Action which occured in March of the new calendar year. I approached the LEI team this time and had a week notice (last time it was only 24 hours!). There was a flurry of chasing the Head of Sustainability around to get things moving quickly and organisation between environmental groups to put together content last minute.
We also coordinated with Heads of Grade to gain permission to both wear green and post information about the day. This was all quite the rush, but considering the almost unprecedented time pressure we achieved a lot. We were able to organise not only information and conversation starters, but also cake and a small discussion session to share thoughts and experiences.
Due to the short notice and other ongoing projects, I took lead of most of the work and organisation. Of course the Head of Sustainability had to do a lot of administrative things, logistics of venues and getting permission, but otherwise I put together some content and was helped by the Middle School group and one of the Environmental Initiatives who did a discussion video.
In the end I put together a briefing, other LEI members helped spread the word, Middle School LEI organised a video, an EI group put together a discussion video (to inspire other students in reflecting on the questions themselves) and Claire organised an actual event to bring interested members together.
I’ve learnt more about my own limitations and the limitations of a large organisation. However, I’ve also learnt just how flexible people can be and when it comes to it a lot of things can happen quickly. Its changed my understanding of taking action and realising I will often be in a situation where my motivation is at odds with that of others. I think I made a difference in pushing everyone (mainly the school) to do something to recognise such an important issue and also the international efforts being made (which may so often be forgotten or ignored). Its changed how I will approach my passions in future and I know now that being ready to take responsibility and finding the right people in charge can make a huge difference.
LO6
Climate Change is an ongoing issue. It’s been known for a while and is progressively being added to school curriculums. Through this event I spent time learning more about the lack of progress, but also hearing of all the extraordinary work being done by individuals and groups around the world.
I think the significance of Climate Change is well explained enough. Instead I’ll focus on briefly outlining the importance of taking action. I think it was disappointing to see such and institution such as UWCSEA East fail so completely to have fully integrated sustainability completely into its school culture. Climate Change will influence the lives of every student for their entire lifetime, if not already. From where we live to the resources available and the challenges we as society will face, it is such an interconnected issue. Many things from poverty, privilege, education and more are central, but Climate Change is perhaps the most defining of them all, impacting society and environment.
Without taking action and raising awareness, we miss out on the opportunities to engage individuals on the issue. Without trying we might excuse ourselves in not considering sustainable actions and choices in other parts of our lives. Without normalising this discussion we might make the subject taboo or overwhelming to process. Without starting the process of understanding the issue and knowing what action to take, we might feel lost, anxious and disempowered when it comes time to truly stand up and fight for our futures.
I think my actions have made a positive impact on this community. How large of an impact? I don’t think I can answer that question and frankly don’t believe it matters. The precedence I help set is enough to make the whole endeavour worth it. By directly showing others that they can take action even against daunting odds such as a large, slow organisation and short time frames, things can still happen.
I think through participating in this action I’ve grown more involved with the issue. Its given me the time and space to reflect on its scale and provided more reasons why it’s such an important issue to fight for. Not to fight in isolation or alone, but in considering the large complex system it is a part of and the people to bring along in that journey and who we might influence or inspire.
LO7
When choosing take action that appears counter to societal norms (no matter the support) one must consider many perspectives and variables. In Singapore it is illegal to protest and so we must carefully work within legal constraints when organising action, ensuring it appears facilitated and approved by the school.
Another area to consider is the time taken from other subject areas such as Personal Development Material, Wellbeing Activities and other general school activities.
The decisions I made were supervised by the Head of Sustainability who facilitated discussion in the group of what actions we could realistically take. Nonetheless I pushed for as much action as possible, considering how to work around constraints such as the legal barriers, time constraints (logistical challenge) and even student participation. I had to judge what information to share and where to focus our messaging. This was all based on attempting to maximise potential impact and/or setting precedence while being mindful of the constraints and concerns of the administration and system.
I think my moral principles of not seeing the system as a hard wall, but an obstacle to overcome or work with others to change. It is not unmoving as it might first appear and with enough effort one can nudge it a little bit in the desired direction. This belief helped me in making decisions that challenged myself, but also the institution too.
I think I was in conflict with some like the High School Principal, not in whether we should take action, but instead how far to take said action. He looked more at the balance of the curriculum and integrating the information into the programs teaching life skills and not simply one time awareness raising. He did stop short though of not having any action and was encouraging in preparing resources and sharing it with the school community.
Evidence
Official Information (Non-Affiliated): https://fridaysforfuture.org/march19/
Middle School Message: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nv4dJ_si7pK1oZd981uV8ccxPAhb2AD5/view?usp=sharing
High School Briefing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/136KPM0GUfoLCXx9XmW7JpgSE2Mv-ghMj/view?usp=sharing
Transcript for Briefing: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SkJXwsblmXKVX8DntD03wDfqWHvzopUuJO4qlcHeFrA/edit?usp=sharing
