Lilli's Student Blog

So, I’m currently in a Program called Practices of Organic Farming. I know I know, what the heck am I doing in a farming class?! Well, let me tell you.
As someone passionate about studying human rights, its essential for me to understand more about the agriculture industry and the ways farmers and migrant workers are exploited/treated, etc. Not to mention the animals! I’m also learning a lot about business management and have had many opportunities to put my marketing skills to use. This year, POF students made handmade laurel crowns and stoles for graduation, as well as floral bouquets- and it was my job to market them! This was so much fun to practice my photography and graphic design skills, as well as experimenting with social media!

It’s Snowing!
I’m not sure how many can relate but I NEVER had a white christmas until moving to Olympia. I never even experienced snow, period.
So with that being said I’m sure you can imagine my excitement this last week as powdered sugar has been falling from the sky and covering everything around me.
And I thought the evergreen forest was beautiful before… Oh My Gosh!
Don’t believe me? Check out the video below! <3 Stay warm out there friends!

Okay, so I’m from a farming valley in California where it’s basically always summer and we are hours from the beach. Before moving to Olympia I had never even been on a real hike before, just very long walks through flat parks. It took me almost a year to stop drooling every time I would go outside, and I still feel like I’m living in the twilight movies… make fun of me all you want but I love them. I heard on my campus tour that Evergreen had a bunch of hiking trails and forest and blah blah that I thought was great… but then I ACTUALLY went out there, and oh my god you guys! The first few weeks I would go into the woods I couldn’t stop yelling ‘we are in the rainforest, we literally live in a rainforest!”. If you’re from Washington you may not understand this excitement, but for me it was like an entire universe just steps from my back door! Now I spend my days rockin’ in a hammock watching the sunset on the beach and hanging out with my friends by the fire, drawing in tree houses and even kayaking through the Puget sound! (Our Rec Center rents out kayaks by the way!) <3

So this quarter I decided to take 8 credits rather than 16, because I was getting surgery over winter break and didn’t want too much to worry about. I am so happy I decided to take the classes that I am in because I am getting so much out of them! Right now I am in a 4 credit program titled “Writing From Life” with Nancy Parks (who is AMAZING) and I am so in love with this class. Because it is my third year at Evergreen, I have by now mastered the art of academic writing, but have been neglecting my creating writing completely. This program has given me the opportunity to delve back into my creative practice and it has opened up so many doors for me, emotionally and professionally.

Recently I have been working on a piece in the class titled “Memories of my Granny”. The last few years my grandma has been developing dementia and has been swiftly losing her memories. I have been working on an autobiographical piece detailing all of the happy memories I have of her. Each night I have been calling her and reading them aloud over the phone and every time she cries with so much joy. I never could have imagined what this class would do for my life and the ones I love.