Money’s Value, Soul’s Worth, FWS 2009-2010
The Evergreen State College
Best Quotes from Alumni Speakers in the Lecture Series:
Living the Greener Dream
November 17: Cyndia Sieden ‘75 and Judith Cohen ’79, international opera singer and concern pianist
“Seminar forged a skill that allowed me to converse and bring together ideas in real life situations.” (CS, JC)
“Seminar works best for me-that’s why Evergreen suited me so well.” (CS)
“ You have to make your own connections.” (CS)
“ It worked for me because coming from a large school…I was able to get grad school experience.” (JC)
“ The ability to take and accept criticism from others helped me do my own thing in the real world.” (CS, JC)
January 5: Brian Boyd, Executive Director of the Sequoia Foundation, the Forest Foundation and Grantmakers Consultants
“Observation without evaluation is the highest form of intelligence”
“I was a generalist student but now I’m also a generalist”
“Evergreen was the place that facilitated my personal change”
“Evergreen taught me how to lie, steal and cheat”
“There is tremendous abundance around us at all times”
“Practicing sensibility, cultivating the fruits of life takes practice”
“The classes at TESC were essential to evolve as a student and community member”
“A great combination between technical work, on the one hand and community learning on the other”
“The critical skills that I learned at Evergreen were how to articulate and gracious”
“Evergreen is more a stepping stone onto a road of self discovery.”
“Disentangle grading from actual learning”
“Most critical thing I learned at evergreen was learning when to speak and when to listen and how to articulate”
January 12: Dee Williams, MES, pioneer in the tiny house movement
“Step into the authenticity of your own values”
“I just sort of fell into my career”
“Once you belong you start to live your life”
“All of a sudden I was in a hot bed of free thinking”
“I was born somewhere else, but these greeners were my people”
“Do your own thing means the ability to explore my options”
“Step into the authority of your own values, ethics and education”
“Think outside the box and be a problem solver even if it’s not in your field of expertise”
“Gravity pins us all together”
“Positive change begins at home”
“You can study anything and everything that appeals to you. You aren’t forced to choose a major that you get trapped in”
“Although I appreciate the community support in all aspects, I am aware that I need to make choices for myself”
“Knowing that I belong opens up an origami of potential inside of me.”
January 19: Ben Alexander ‘82 and Susan Buis ‘82, Co-owner and Co-founder Sound Native Plants (environmental restoration)
Ben
“Crafting your own experience is possible. Education does not have to be prescribed above.”
“I was encouraged to use practical common sense and applied real life solutions to problems”
“Much of what I learned was through community activities and volunteering that lead to valuable experiences.”
“I learned community problem solving and how to work in a group.”
“I learned to draw on my own resourcefulness”
“I learned practical common sense applied to real life kind of solutions and problems”
Susan
“Ya know you can do it. Figure it out, set about to make a plan, learn, do. Feedback. I was a greener, I could learn to teach myself anything.”
“You can take an idea from one field and apply it to a totally different field.”
“Evergreen helps people to draw connections to different materials.”
January 26: Kim Gaffi ’97 and Blue Peetz ‘95, Co-Directors, Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB)
“My transcript told a story. The story of my life”- Blue
“My transcript told a beautiful story”- Blue
“You can craft your own experience, tap in and explore your passions”- Blue
“Evergreen taught once you find something to be passionate about you have the options to further that interest through education”- Blue
“When needed, you lie”- Kim
“It’s positive how much Evergreen makes you write”- Blue
“Transcript looks very pretty all together”- Blue
“Evergreen lit my fire”- Blue
“Reading and understanding what it means to be a revolutionary, that happened for me.”
“A man can be a teacher”- Blue
“We’re here to create, not to consume”- Kim
“Know your role as an outsider coming into a community”
“Non profit should be everyone profits”- Kim
“I have a passion regarding community and food”- Kim
“I never learned to work within the box” –Blue
“I learned about the idea of community development and what that means.”
February 2: Kevin Ranker ‘97, State Senator and environmental leader
“Once you create a position make yourself indispensable, like a virus.”
“Crisis creates community”
“You have to find your place within a community before you can work in it”
“I wanted to do everything in my power to be able to analyze things.”
“I have a passion for giving back”
“Think through an idea”
“More often than not we define our community by the people we relate to.”
“Seminar helped me to read and process things that I otherwise would have ignored, even though I hated it”.
“Spend time on your transcripts; they are very probing and insightful.”
“Don’t apply for a job create it”
February 9: Matt Triplett ‘80, owner, SparkPlug and TeamSnap, marketing and web-based sports team management
“Keep learning.”
“At Evergreen they teach you how to figure out what works for you and go for it.”
“ Cooperate and take the path less traveled.”
“ Other schools are about competing and conforming, and at Evergreen you choose your own place.”
“ I learned to see the big picture, help others, and to stop being afraid of being different.”
February 2: Ian Pounds ’84, Omprakash Volunteer in Afghanistan
“The wish you made on that star may or may not come true, depending on if you have the power to make it true.”
“Go out into the world; create your own reality.”
“Take a step back in oerder to reflect and know yourself.”
“When you stop worrying about who you are, you find it.”
“Trust the word and the world will wrap its arms aound you and take care of you.”
“I plan to get as much as I give—a lot!”
“When you are a witness you can’t do anything to help but you can act.”
“Acting is like breathing.”
“I’m the richest guy in the world.”
February 16: Madeline Cantwell ’03, Director of Development, The Orion Society
“Grouchy out mean grouchy in.”
“There’s no such thing as the individual I.”
“We’re like a school of fish.”
“Our lives are not our own.”
“Money is never idle.”
“Spending choices are crucial because money is never idle.”
“Put eating back at the center of your life and our culture.”
“Surround yourself with people you admire. You’ll become part of them.”
“Technology, iPods, for example, are socially acceptable narcissim.”
“Give stuff away. Volunteer and help your community.”
“Can transactions become celebrations?”
“Participate in the arts. Art is our last radical act. Art is vision fo the future and reflection.”
“I didn’t initially have the skills to sustain a path. I had to learn skills. I had to work through heritage of guilt and shame.”
“Volunteering reflects and reinforces how you’re connected to your community.”
“Hold on to your values like you have crush on them.”
“Defend public space by using public services.”
“Be flexible.”
“We are more impressionable than we know.”
“Make the money you spend represent your values.”
“At Evergreen I gained the capacity to care.”
“The programs I took expanded my horizons.”
February 23: Deirdre Cross ‘01 and Susan LaSalle ’90, film makers and visual artists, Cross Film.
“Evergreen gave me the courage to go to my bosses and tell them if something wasn’t okay.” – Susan
“Greeners have hands-on experience, instead of textbook experience.”
“I learned to work in teams.”
“It’s capitalism out there – get over it.”
“People think that they don’t have to pay you, but assume you will do a good job because you are Greener.”
March 2: Sandy Desner ‘76, owner Deskoba, Inc, Real Estate development
“We bring our values to what we do, the actions we take are what really matters.”
“Driven, not by what I wanted, but by what I didn’t want.”
“Evergreen taught me how to work with people and how to turn diversions into an idea.”
“We bring our values to what we do.”
“Money is a part of life.”
“I learned to understand the small details, the important pieces that make up the whole picture.”
“I would do anything not to have a real job. That’s what led me to business.”
“There’s never a no to me, there must be a different road that leads to yes.”
“There are different ways in which people are educated.”
March 9: Sean Johnson ‘97, musician, yoga instructor of Wild Lotus Yoga, and The Wild Lotus Band
“There is a creativity that emerges from the darker experience.”
“At Evergreen, you can be an entrepreneur of your own education.”
“I had some really great teachers that shared their passions.”
“Some time I know what it feels like to be excruciatingly alive.”
“Find connection in the world and passion. Follow your bliss”
“Do what makes your heart sing.”
May 11: Cristina Labra, current MPA graduate student, SafePlace volunteer
“Before coming to USA I never considered myself Latina.”
“In Chile I spoke English and ocassionally ate peanut butter and jelly. I’ve experienced identity issues coming here.”
“Money for women changes values.”
“Mothers are interested in what money allows you to do, not salary but opportunity.”
“For Mijas women money equals independence, safety, choice, the ability to won stuff.”
“I reproduced Evergreen learning community to model a safe environment at Mijas.”
“I wanted to know how to sustain social entrepreneurship with communities working together.”
“It’s important to think contextually and question assumptions.”
