2009: Letter to Lupe Allen

From a very young age I have been an outdoors lover, starting with my family’s five-year sail around the South Pacific. There I developed a strong connection for the environment and adventure. In high school I was head of the environmental club and won the outdoors award.

 My freshmen year at UC Santa Cruz was successful indeed. I took classes ranging from psychology, writing, to calculus. I continued with my environmental interest by taking life in the sea, biology, and other prerequisites for an environmental science major. Outside of the classroom I volunteered in the recreation department, helping guide trips and making others feel comfortable in the wilderness. I also I took the outdoor leadership seminar held through the recreation center which furthered my skills as a leader. I was a member of the kayak club, rock climbed, surfed, and backpacked, taking advantage of the beautiful areas that encompassed Santa Cruz. I continued to swim throughout college four days a week and took swim conditioning.

At UCSC I was part of the Obama campaign and helped by polling intended votes around campus. I talked to students about the upcoming elections, encouraged them to vote, and made sure they were thoroughly informed on the candidate’s policies.

After freshmen year, I decided to go to China to pursue my interest in the culture and language, which I was unable to do at UCSC. I wanted to understand the environmental challenges that China is facing and environmentalism from a Chinese perspective. I learn the best from experience, and wanted to learn by living it.

In China I learned so much, not just academically but about myself and what I want to pursue in college. First semester I lived in the dorms at Beijing Foreign Studies University, rode my bike to school (through Beijing traffic), and lived the Chinese way. I took , Chinese environmental challenges, and Chinese media classes. My environmental science teacher was the founder of one of the first environmental NGO’s in China and taught us about China’s current environmental issues, structures.  He took us personally to NGO’s, wastewater treatment plants, and brought in guest lecturers including current government officials. With my media class we learned how strongly the government influences the media and how hard it is to report “real” news in such a regulated country. We visited some of the largest Internet search engines headquarters as well as several newspapers. My  speaking ability doubled in three months.

Second semester I lived with a home stay family that didn’t speak English and enjoyed viewing the way of life within a Chinese home. I had a high school age sister, a father who was head of the Beijing Bonsai association (who frequently brought me to events and introduced me to his coworkers, where I was forced to customarily toast and drink to every new smile), and a mom who was a criminal lawyer. We would eat two meals a day together, take nightly 15 minute “digestive” walks around the neighborhood, and spend weekends touring their favorite Beijing destinations.  We would constantly find ourselves in wonderfully awkward situations in which our cultural differences became magnified.  

At University I did the language intensive program through IES, which included four hours a day of language class with daily dictations and weekly tests. I have never studied harder and never seen such immediate benefits. My  improved weekly and by the time I parted with my family I felt comfortable having complex conversations. I had come to (mostly) understand a culture that was so different than that of the island nations I lived amongst as a child.

I interned at the Jane Goodall foundation in Beijing and helped introduce the staff members to the wilderness, and how to teach inner city kids how to conserve and appreciate it. Quite a task seeing as how China’s national education system lacks an environmental science program. I helped edit all of their English newsletters, emails, and PowerPoint’s, and got hands-on experience at an environmental NGO in China. 

I did a lot of traveling including going to Yunnan province, which borders Tibet and lived with a Tibetan home stay family for a week. There I witnessed a second China: rural China, which gave me necessary balance to my perspective of the Middle Kingdom.  I did a lot of hiking in Yunnan and around the Beijing area (including the great wall). I’m constantly amazed at the rugged beauty, which is only 45 minutes outside of the 17 million person plus metropolis that is Beijing.

This summer I hiked the John Muir trail with my brother-220 miles of walking. Quite spectacular and a healthy way to digest my experience in China.

I’m returning to Yunnan, China in two weeks for another semester to continue my studies of , and this time to learn about Chinese traditional medicine: acupuncture, Qi Gong, Tai Qi, and Herbals. TCM has always fascinated me and plays such a large role in every Chinese citizens life- I figured why not understand another component of the most complex culture I’ve encountered yet? Staying in China will also allow me to reach a critical level in my language skills that would take much longer if I remain in the States.

I’m doing transfer applications for this Spring to small liberal arts colleges that specifically have strong environmental science, ties with Asia, and an outdoor community. I want to channel my passion for the environment and my understanding of Chinese culture to help conserve the natural world.  I want to continue studying foreign cultures, which constantly challenge my own values and way of viewing life. I want to help others appreciate and view nature with the love and intensity that I possess. 

Over the last two years I have been building my outdoor skills, Chinese culture understanding, and sense of self. I have stayed physically active the entire time and want to swim on a college level team. I want to be in a nurturing environment where I can have close relationships with my teachers so they can help me grow and learn as an individual and an intellectual. I want to be surrounded by highly motivated students who push me. Having spent my entire life in intimate academic climates, I now know that I want to return to what challenges and supports me the most: close connections.