Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

My first experience face to face with Prescott College was meeting the incoming student who graciously stopped on his way from New Mexico to Prescott to pick me up. He waited in the Flagstaff Amtrak station parking lot for six hours before I arrived. The next morning, the very student who first called me during her admissions work-study came to my apartment and brought me to the grocery store, gave me a quick tour of campus, and generally helped me feel welcome. I really needed it; it’s really no easy task to move thousands of miles from home.
It’s effortless to make friends at Prescott. I arrived Saturday night, and even before arriving home I had a new friend. The next morning, another friend. The Monday after, two more friends, and so on and on. People here are from each corner of North America, and the college is so small and so specifically focused that everyone has two things in common, guaranteed: We’re all from out of town, and we all have been thinking about the deep, important problems facing our planet and society for years before we found our niche at Prescott. It’s not difficult to start a conversation here.

As academic and wilderness orientations coursed on, and as the semester began to accelerate, I was immersed in a coherent community. The administration has been consistently responsive and helpful, and the faculty and instructors I’ve studied with have been available, knowledgeable, passionate, and flexible. The relevance and currency of my History of Gender and Sexuality course with Kaitlin Noss was stunning. My perspectives have changed, and I feel a depth of understanding that I was unable even to imagine before.

Now, as I prepare to fly home between semesters, I know with a moral certainty that I have made the best educational decision I could have. The geographic diversity of my new friendships have given me a sense of belonging even in parts of the United States I’ve never been; I feel more connected to the vastness of America than ever before. I’ll be going home to my family and old friends with a stronger identity, and lots of exciting new things to discuss.

The end of the semester is bittersweet for me, as I imagine it is for many of us students. Over the last couple of months, Prescott has become my home, and I’m comfortable here now. But, it will be truly excellent to have a break and to see my family again. Three friends and I will be taking a 2700-mile road trip back to Prescott in January, and this has to be the raspberry garnish on my Bûche de Noël.

-Estin Vogel, 12.15.11

Truly I am inspired.

Wild horse herds, coal mines on the horizon, a people filled with strength protecting the natural existence of the earth. Long miles of non-industrialized land and flocks of sheep. The Navajo Reservation is overflowing with magic, sacred ritual and beautiful resistance. Resistance of a government set on taking sacred lands to be made into a digging ground for Peabody Coal. See, the Navajo Reservation is the most abundant resource of coal land left in North America.  Even though the Navajo people have already been forced into reservations, the "worth" of the land has risen in the eyes of the greedy in power since it was found to be such a large coal deposit. So of course, now the Navajo have to struggle once more against relocation set about by those who don't know the real worth of the earth.

Out of this, though, rises those who would help protect the people and land of this area called Black Mesa in northern Arizona. I was honored to be among them. I was invited to participate in the Black Mesa Health Clinic and provide free service work to the Navajo people resisting relocation. The clinic consisted of herbalists and bodyworkers who held the intention of providing in whatever way they could, and never in any way overstepping the cultural beauty of this struggling people. I was surprised to find that the woman who originally helped organize the clinic is a Prescott College graduate, Rowen Tumbleweed. Her time at Prescott College consisted of studying the cultural struggle of indigenous peoples holding out against relocation and the loss of land to the ever devouring industrial market. At only 27, Rowen has become a leader on the forefront of supporting the Navajo resistors, and she has partnered with an amazing Navajo woman, Mary Catherine Smith, to help bring much needed health care to the reservation. It was so inspiring to meet someone who had come from the culture and incredible drive of Prescott College to create harmony and responsible global citizens. It was inspiring hearing of how Prescott College could influence someone to become such a successful leader of a support organization that affects real change.

I was also able to work on my studies of Traditional Chinese Medicine while I was on the reservation. This semester I created an independent study focusing in on the philosophies and practices connected with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and I was able to practice and grow in these philosophies while providing care for the Navajo people. The massage I practiced most of the time was Shiatsu, a form of massage with its roots based in TCM that works both physically and energetically. Also, the herbal balancing that I learned from many of the herbalists respected the TCM philosophies.Getting hands on experience and actually feeling like I was affecting change was so rewarding.

The more I thought of it, the more I realized how lucky I am to be at Prescott. Through Prescott College I gained the massage therapy and herbalism skills to actively provide health care for many people during this clinic. Through Prescott College I made the connections that brought me to the reservation to be of service to people in need. Through Prescott College I have been given the freedom to create independent studies where I can get college credit for doing service work like this. Through Prescott College I continue to grow and be inspired not just by what people do while they are in school here, but also by what they do when they have their diploma.  

Truly I am inspired. This place is amazing.

~Brittany Davis, 11.28.2011

Arizona to Amsterdam

Sitting in a cafe on the corner of a busy cobblestone street in Amsterdam, I still cannot believe that I am in school. However the numerous critical reflections, the four books, and the thesis paper always bounce me back to reality. The opportunity to create and participate in independent studies is an incredible aspect of this school. The moment I heard that it was a possibility, I knew that I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Independent studies at Prescott College are an incredible way for students to employ their creativity, innovation, and independence into their studies. It gives us the chance to be extremely self directed and participate in field work that we are passionate about. In the spring, I decided that I wanted to study an aspect of my women studies minor, in one of the most culturally relevant cities to that field. When I brought up the idea to my professor, who I asked to be my mentor for the study, I was met with great enthusiasm. They did not look at me like I was crazy for dreaming so big, but reacted with support, excitement and positive reinforcement. A reminder that at Prescott College, there is a firm belief that no dream is to large to achieve. I was met with the same amount of enthusiasm from my advisor, the risk management coordinator and everyone else who helped me make this course a reality. For this course, which I chose to do for fall block, I wrote the curriculum, stated the course objections and designed the workload. After filling out all the paperwork and getting the course approved, I was ecstatic. How many other places could I have made this study happen during my years as an undergrad? Not many.

Being so far away from school, some would think that one would lose their sense of accountability and commitment to the course. However, quite the opposite takes place, because I am studying something that I am extremely passionate about and because I am so grateful for this opportunity, I have put an immense amount of effort into getting the most out of this experience. This independent study has enabled me to work in the field, interviewing experts, observing first hand cultural influences and allowed me to think analytically about critical social theory from a women and human rights perspective. Skyping and e-mailing my mentoring professor on a regular basis has allowed me to share my ideas and observations as well as allowed me to continue feeling connected to the Prescott community even while being half away across the world.

I am an unyielding believer that a true education does not just take place in a classroom. That personal transformation and commitment to learning surpasses the walls of college campuses. That exploration with what one is passionate about, and first hand cultural experience, not only teaches us to be global citizens, but relish in the beauty that one is constantly learning, absorbing the wonderful thing that is human potential. I am loving it here in the beautiful and exciting city of Amsterdam, but I am ready to come back to my Prescott College home and share my experience and my study with the community that I call family. This study has given me so much insight about the world and myself, I cannot wait to take full advantage of the other amazing Prescott College opportunities that await me when I return.

~Amanda Hampton, 09.19.2011