Second Environmental Discussion

Overall, the way the three students gave their presentations concerning the environment were much better than the way that Sethi gave her presentation. Rather than focusing on the negative aspects of the local environment, these students gave compelling stories about the progress they have made in promoting a greener life. Rachel, a graduate from Berkeley, was the first person to present her story. Although it seemed to drag on for a while, sometimes repeating information, Rachel did a great job in showing how just a small campus organization can substantially benefit the environment and society. In a matter of years, she helped students raise over 15 million dollars to fund campus greening. Now, just out of college, she already has a stable job going around to schools across the country to promote green education. Her story gave a great example of how we can do something to help the environment, and it really showed that a few people can definitely make a big difference. The next student, Billy, also gave an impressive story, this one relating to climate change. Billy, a Yale student, founded the Energy Action Coalition, an organization which has quickly become the world's largest youth advocacy group. Through his discussion of how he formed it and what the organization does, we got an idea of another way to help out the environment. Like Rachel, he focused on a very positive experience that showed that we can make change happen by simply devoting ourselves to something we love. Lastly, a Stanford student named Erica shared her experience of growing up as a Mexican immigrant in a very unhealthy environmental situation. With hard work and dedication, however, Erica was able to substantially aid her local community through an abundance of volunteer work. Although she seemed to concentrate a little too much on the racial issues in society, she still got her point out that all it takes to help the environment is a dedicated group of people. Like the other two presenters, Erica gave a very encouraging, uplifting story that made much more of an impact on my views toward saving the environment compared to Sethi's rather negative, critical presentation.