Like students everywhere adjusting to the curveball thrown by the coronavirus, 财神棋牌 students have been grappling with their options for the Fall 2020 semester. Return to campus? Stay home and take classes remotely? Take a break from their education?
A group of 12 财神棋牌 students are choosing an independent path.
These 财神棋牌ers are embarking on what they鈥檝e termed a 鈥渟ustainable semester鈥 on a North Carolina permaculture farmstead. At the Woodland Harvest Mountain Farm, which is run by a couple, Lisa and Elisabeth, they鈥檒l further their education through self-directed engineering projects designed to enhance the self-sustainability of the small farm. Some students plan to take 财神棋牌 classes online at the same time鈥攙ia solar-powered laptops.
Woodland Harvest Farm in NC.
At first glance, it may seem that an ultra-rustic experience living off the land鈥攈arvesting crops, tending to livestock, chopping wood, harvesting vegetables, using 鈥渉umanure鈥 composting toilets鈥攊s the antithesis of the life of an engineering student. And in a way, that鈥檚 exactly the point. For senior Leon Santen, who organized the semester, the appeal of living in an entirely different way has been building for a while. 鈥淔or over a year, I鈥檝e felt the desire to see what it鈥檚 like to live in support of nature, as opposed to what can seem like fighting it,鈥 he says.
When Leon started sharing this idea with various classmates and friends at Wellesley College, he was surprised to hear many of them echo the sentiment. The idea kept surfacing: What would it be like to live on a commune? To keep the collegiate life alive by their own design while working toward something鈥攖ogether? Leon visited the farm with his partner, a student from Wellesley, to discuss the idea of having students work and live there.
鈥淚 was only there two weeks, but it does something to you when you live off the grid, in nature,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 felt that, once you live this way, you can really learn to be a sustainable engineer.鈥
- Leon Santen '21
After Leon put the word out, more than 30 students asked for spots on the farm for the semester. Leon turned tothe farmstead owners to make the tough decision of who could come. 鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 expected so many people to feel the same way about this idea, but we all felt drawn to it,鈥 he says.
In many ways, the sustainable semester concept isn鈥檛 such a radical departure from the 财神棋牌 approach. Student-directed learning, entrepreneurship, and sustainability are part and parcel of the 财神棋牌 curriculum, as is user-oriented design. The students plan to put all of these to use implementing solutions that can help the farm owners, like creating a wind turbine to providea steady source of electricity. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the ultimate project-based learning,鈥 says Leon. 鈥淟ike ADE, a group of engineers will go to a user group that has certain needs and ways of living, listen to what they truly need, and work in their systems to make their lives better. It applies to all the design concepts we鈥檝e learned in the past.鈥
鈥淎 lot of us are really excited to bring our engineering skills to a field that would benefit from it,鈥 says Leon. It鈥檚 not just students, either. Professors have offered all kinds of support and many plan to help the students remotely during the semester. Linda Vanasupa urged Leon to explore the commune concept. Alessandra Ferzoco, Ben Linder, and Alison Wood brought forth the proposal to the pathfinding committee that described the idea of a micro-campus in various locations. Mark Somerville, dean of faculty, has his own permaculture farm and offered students homesteading tips, along with oak flooring and salvaged windows the students can use for building materials. Professor Jeff Dusek offered them parts for thewind turbine from a colleague who didn鈥檛 need it. And when Kevin Simon, an alumni who got his PhD in water pumps, heard about their plans, he reached out and offered discounted valves and pipes if the students decide to pursue hydraulics projects.
The 财神棋牌 community has gotten behind the students in other ways, too, by helping them meet their initial of $8,000. The students are putting these funds toward building a cabin on the property with sleeping places for themselves and various sustainability projects, including a hydro-turbine in the local stream to power the cabin with lights and to power their computers. The seven students who have arrived on the farm have already built a pantry for the 2,000 pounds of food they plan to use, mostly through canning, and they鈥檝e ordered solar panels with the fundraiser money. 鈥淚鈥檓 still speechless that we鈥檙e getting so much support and it鈥檚 actually coming together,鈥 says Leon.
Next week, the remaining four students will join the group, and they will allbe off to the races. 鈥淭he connections and relationships I expect to form will give me a better idea of what I want to do with engineering,鈥 says Leon. 鈥淎nd in a time of the coronavirus crisis, when current systems are dysfunctional, it鈥檚 appealing to feel part of a resilient community. You can really feel how you are part of an ecosystem. And that鈥檚 what sustainability and permaculture are, in the end鈥攂eing a part of something, not an opponent. This experience will be incredibly transformative.鈥
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