Dear Dr. Lupo and Dr. Mooring,
As I continue developing my plans for post-graduation (I've
always, as you both well know, been a planner), I feel like I change my plans
for what I want to do every seven days. This time I'm not freaking out about
it, but I want to give you an update on the places my mind has been wandering
and seek your advice as I move forward.
First I was thinking I'd study some kind of Ecology, which I
narrowed down to coastal ecosystems. I had wanted to do some more hard science
so I could make a claim to have an "expertise" of sorts in a
scientific area before moving on. But as I looked at the options available, the
kinds of things professors were studying, etc, I realized that science for the
sake of science is not as interesting for me as I thought it was. I enjoy it,
but I can't see myself focusing in on something specific like a community of
clams or a certain marshplant. Then I spoke with recent Poli Sci dept grad
Rachel Christensen, who started asking me about my Mexico involvement, and I
remembered how much I love the people and organizations and
issues I've been involved with at the border. The thought of leaving that world
and those communities made me sad, and I began to wonder what I could do that
could be a boon to environmental and community organizations around the border,
or even at the Tijuana Estuary itself. I broadened my search a little bit
to consider watershed management, which at Univ. Wisc. Madison includes a
broader community component, which would lend itself to work at the Tijuana
Estuary. This drifted briefly into water resource engineering, which also looked
interesting.
But as I was sitting in my "Geography of Transportation
Systems" course here in Panama, I couldn't help but take heed of the
butterflies in my stomach right before each class. I mean, I am seriously
PUMPED whenever this class gets ready to start. As I began channeling these
feelings into notes about the kinds of things I am interested, I was reminded
of a list I made in Dr. Lupo’s class in choosing a topic for a research paper
for our Scope and Methods class. The list was called “things that interest me,
politically,” and I came up with public transportation, waste management,
environmental justice, education, renewable energy, livable communities. The
same list came up again when I was trying to come up with an Honors topic. Writing
this list for the third time, I realized that all my interests are united as
ways people are engaging to live together in cities and communities, and in the
resolution of failures to address these issues. With this new vision of what
interests me, I know that if I were to study ecology, I’d want to study urban
ecology. But moreso than that, I’m beginning to wonder if urban planning or a
similar field might be for me, either as a career path or at least a topic of
study.
And so, this brings me to where I am now. I am now wanting to
explore urban planning (or other interdisciplinary fields studying cities and
sustainability), and I am wondering how I can begin exploring if this would be
right for me. Is there anyone you can suggest I talk to explore this
possibility? To help me get an idea of what it would take to start in area like
this, and what other possibilities are out there? I’m sort of starting over
from scratch, while still holding on to a couple of leads from my previous
search that sounded interesting.
Thank you very much for your help, and for bearing with me on this
perpetually changing landscape called my mind. I hope you both are doing very
well. As you might have gathered from the aforementioned butterflies, I am
loving my classes here in Panama (all of them! It’s a blast). I have also made
a number of friends, but so far most of them are from the States… so it’s a
challenge to go out and make Panamanian friends that I need to take up next.
Respectfully,
Daniel Virden
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