This class as I’m sure most everyone else will say, was transformative. Karen was right about the U path that she brought up in class one day. Through the quarter, I’ve fallen into massive depressions, going as far as skipping all of my classes due to lack of motivation to continue. Its like my philosophy professor once said, “What sane undergrad hasn’t considered suicide?” There is a great paralysis that comes from hearing all of the eco-atrocities occurring across the Earth and the harm that is to come in the future.
What has scared me most was the uncertainty of how the future will play out. I don’t know how many cities will flood, I don’t know how many will be forced from their home due to drought, and most of all, I don’t know how many will die. I can’t bear the idea of knowing that the future is going to have great hardship but not understanding the exact details of it. Its this uncertainty that has left me feeling helpless.
However I now realize that uncertainty isn’t a bad thing. In the words of Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, “When we know the future isn’t yet decided, there is room for us to play a role in influencing what happens.” The last two weeks of this course were what brought me out of the bottom of the U-path. I’ve realized that I need to be even less certain about the future! I now don’t even know if I’ll major in physics. If you ask anyone who has known me outside of course work, they will tell you how much of a science nerd I am. Through my time at UW, I want to now find where to best apply myself to the Anthropocene. It is the unique gift I can give back to all of those who have contributed to my status today, whether that be cacao farmers who contribute to my happiness gained from chocolate, or that be my direct family who have taught me the basis from which I could go to school and build off of.
The world is still a scary place, but now rather than being paralyzed by that fear, I am motivated by it. Its this mentality of “If we don’t try, how can we succeed?” I want to find the place where I can take my skill set the Anthropocene has given me and use it to make my mark, to give back. I truly believe that is the greatest lesson I may take away from my entire time at this institution. The idea that I can make a difference in the world, and having the conviction to think I actually can. If I have learned anything from physics so far, it’s that uncertainty is quite a powerful thing.
For those not versed in physics, this equation denotes the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle that gives rise to many quantum properties of subatomic matter.