What The Heck Am I Doing Here?

Hi everyone! I’m Chrissy. This is my academic blog focusing on my internship via Evergreen’s Terroir program.

For the past two months I’ve been living in Bali and working at Student Village, Green School’s boarding program. If you haven’t heard about Green School yet, John Hardy’s TED talk is a great place to start. 

Not only is it an aesthetically beautiful place, but the vision and mission draw people in from all over the world. At it’s core, Green School is a destination where people come to change the way we think about global education. I’ve met some real movers and shakers here– teachers and students alike– who feel like they can truly change the world.

Perhaps this mentality is contagious, because I’m starting to feel like I can, too.

Photo of Myself Scuba Diving in Nusa Lembongan by Daisy J.

My Story:

After hopping around in-between university and work in my early 20’s, I decided to complete my degree at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. I lived in an off-grid cabin for one year while I waited to gain in-state residency, and during this time I realized my true passion for sustainable living, health and food, and visual arts. In the true manner of Evergreen, I was able to combine these passions into a super-awesome interdisciplinary education. I studied ecological agriculture, permaculture design, visual arts, and cultural studies. This year I will complete my BA in Sustainability Studies.

Last year I worked with Sarah Williams in two highly interdisciplinary programs that made me question my place in the world. I realized that I wanted to be immersed in an international and  multi-cultural educational setting where I could apply what I’ve learned at school. I set the target on Green School Bali, a place that I had been following on social media for a couple of years. In my eyes, Green School seemed like the place an Evergreen student would have wanted to go when they were a kid. Where else in the world does a student get to farm and make art in the same class?

It’s no wonder that Evergreen and Green School have so many connections. Orin Hardy, John Hardy’s son and owner of Kul Kul Farm, is a Greener. I live down the street from Big Tree Farms, a bamboo chocolate factory that is owned and operated by a Ben Ripple, a Greener. Just the other week a high school student approached me about going to Evergreen. Someone recently told me that two Greeners were working on another farm down the road. One of my student resident’s mom AND dad went to Evergreen in the 80’s. The connections are uncanny and quite hilarious.

Jump six months forward in time from when I applied for this internship, and here I am writing on my bamboo desk. Someone is trimming a coconut tree right in front of me. Down below I can see some people working in the new garden (named Chocolate Garden– more on this later) and the kitchen staff is busy preparing after-school snacks for the kids– home-made pesto with veggies and a fresh batch of kombucha.

About The Internship:

This is an in-program internship with the program Terroir: Chocolate, Oysters, and Other Place-Flavored Foods sponsored by Sarah Williams. It is a year-long internship at Student Village in Green School.

This contract is divided into 3 parts:

-12 credits will focus on the internship at Green School’s boarding house.
-2 credits will focus on implementing Permaculture practices at the Student Village.
-2 credits will focus on being a field journalist learning and documenting the terroir of Bali.

My title for this position is the Student Village Supervisor. I will be assisting Eduardo and the staff in all tasks associated with running the Student Village. I will gain real-life experience working with kids (ages 13-17), helping with administrative duties, supervising field trips and weekends, and implementing permaculture practices on-site at the Student Village garden.

Associated text with the Terroir program will help me navigate learning about the terroir of Indonesia and making scholarly observations as documented here.

Furthermore, this blog serves as a space to document the journey of creating a sustainable habitat for and with students. Student Village is a relatively new project at Green School and I’m helping cultivate awareness within students, develop sustainable systems, and promote health and happiness!

This is an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where I get to learn from different people of all nationalities and backgrounds, gain work and life experience, and follow my Evergreen trajectory of true interdisciplinary education.