Internships Showcase ELA Program

By: Natalie House

Last Thursday evening, ES and REED upperclassmen showcased their internship posters in Withey to demonstrate what they learned over the summer. Students who gained experience though internships were able to put the skills they attained through the ELA program at GMC to real use. Many students worked on farms, in fields conducting ecological research, in urban and rural communities, and with sustainable construction companies.

 Working for the first time with other organizations often gives students a fresh perspective of what their degrees can mean in the scheme of things. The implications of structures in society which perpetuate injustice are directly related to all of the topics students discuss in courses like Poverty and Inequality in America, Environmental Justice, and Ethical Theory, among others.

The ELA curriculum provides students with the necessary tools required to think critically about social, economic, and environmental sustainability – and the linkages between them. Living on a small campus teaches students how to interact with community members and build relationships. But what can an understanding of this holistic outlook really mean for graduates?

The hope is that the knowledge gained at GMC will make an impact in a number of areas students choose to specialize in. Whether this pool of knowledge is expressed through social media blogs like this one, sustainable education, or from other angles in the workplace – it’s important to keep the ELA mentality in mind as we think about our futures.