Geography Grad Brings Passion for the Planet to Everything She Does

在决定去哪里留学时, Emmy Radin wanted to break out of the “classic experience” for most college students.

而不是去像欧洲这样的热门留学目的地, Radin l和ed on Ecuador—和 it proved to be exactly the right choice.

“中美洲和南美洲有如此多的生态价值, 这里的热带气候和美国完全不一样.S.雷丁说，他将获得美国大学的学位 地理位置 和 西班牙语 辅修公共政策.

Having studied 西班牙语 since first grade growing up in Massachusetts, going to a place where people spoke the language was important for Radin. 在厄瓜多尔期间, she volunteered as a teaching assistant at a public school 和 had the chance to design her own 地理位置 curriculum, 她每周教孩子们一次. 她还在一个森林恢复项目中生活了六个星期.

Radin shared the knowledge she gained as part of the University of Denver’s 本科生研究展示 今年春天, 一个名为“马什皮参与性公民”的项目, Ecuador: Meaningful 和 Sustainable Models for Education 和 Conservation.”

The goal of the ethnography was to show how quality education can be achieved with limited resources 和 minimal governmental support by promoting the integration of environmental education 和 participative citizenship—which she saw firsth和 at the school.

“The results of this paper have ample potential to be diffused into other regions to improve education 和 exemplify how schools 和 communities with limited financial resources can make profound change,雷丁在信中写道 简短的描述 研究的一部分.

雷丁对环境的兴趣由来已久, but it was DU’s 地理位置 department 和 its intentional connection between people 和 their relationships to the environment where they live that drew her to the program. One class that exemplified this for her was a mountain l和scapes course taught by Teaching Professor Hillary Hamann.

Radin’s decision to attend DU was also connected to her love of the environment 和 nature. She was taken by the "beautiful 和 enchanting" greenery surrounding Mary Reed Hall 和 the fact that the university has its own arboretum.

“我可以想象自己在这里学习, 进入所有这些不同的建筑, really being able to know my campus 和 not feeling far away from people or the campus environment,她说。, adding at the time she was thrilled to learn about all the different trees.

除了出国留学, Radin was president of the yoga club for two years 和 helped plan weekly visits by a local Hindu monk who taught ancient yoga practices 和 led discussions about mindfulness. The experience, 她说, provided a “great opportunity to be a leader as a sophomore.”

“I think being given a platform to create a space for other people to come to is a huge responsibility, 但它也真的, 很酷的.”

Radin also worked as a barista at Beans Coffee Shop, located in the Knoebel School of Hospitality.

“艾美奖的教育, 宣传, 环境方面的工作经验和研究, 社会, 和 sustainability issues allowed her to cultivate a well-respected voice at DU 和 will place her squarely in the group of future leaders who will collaborate on solving challenging global, 社会和环境问题,迈克尔·克尔温说, associate professor 和 director of the environmental science program.

展望未来, 雷丁计划继续在科罗拉多州当地种植公司实习, where she plans to help develop produce plots in public parks across the city. The food is harvested from the plots 和 is then distributed to low- income, 食物供应不足的社区, 她说.

Radin credits the professors she’s had 和 the other “incredible role models” she’s come across who have helped her grow into her own level of confidence during her time at DU.

“快到大四了, it was hard to believe that I was a knowledgeable person who has done a lot of learning 和 work 和 was entitled to speak on issues 和 share my knowledge.”

但她说，随着她在杜克大学的时间推移，这种情况发生了变化. “I think I’ve been able to overcome that because I’ve had a lot of incredible role models 和 professors 和 people who are so down to earth but incredibly knowledgeable.”