Raised in Dallas with more than 10 million people, finding a recycle bin on the street was practically impossible.
I was the last person I ever suspected to propose a sustainable initiative to the Student Green Energy Fund (SGEF). I came to USF St. Petersburg a year ago and dived right into various clubs and organizations, many of which I could hardly relate to or knew little about. But I’ve found that to be the beauty of college; an environment that’s all about the opportunity to try new things and explore your interests, and SGEF helped me do just that.
Soon after I started school at USFSP, I met a student, Lauren Reilly, who would inspire me and serve as my guide as I ventured to take on campus sustainability and implement an outdoor recycling program. Then, Lauren was the Student Government Director of Sustainability and took me under her wing to serve as my mentor while I worked on this SGEF proposal. When she first challenged me with the task, I agreed with no doubt in my mind. “Piece of cake,” I thought. Although it is one of my proudest accomplishments on our campus, it wasn’t always a cake walk.
When I started at square one, and looked at the amount of research and time that was required for a SGEF project, it was absolutely overwhelming. It made me wonder if I was the right person; I had absolutely no knowledge about recycling.
Lauren and so many others who shared a passion for sustainability made sure I knew I was never alone, and help was always available. Though I was scared, I saw it as an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to push myself and grow and most importantly, an opportunity to help people and make a difference.
As scary as the project seemed at first, I learned it’s not about the stress, the pressure to be successful. Or even the sleepless nights and all-nighters it took to meet the deadline. It’s about the tears that trickled down my face when the bins arrived. It’s about the students that use them every single day. It’s about the lives we can change. It’s about the sustainability of USFSP and our beautiful Earth.
I believed in the positive impact recycling would bring to our campus, and because I’ve found so many others who believe the same thing, we stand as one; a united front. We are individuals, but more importantly, it is who we are when those individuals come together, we are a team. In the words of Aaron Wasserman, a fellow student who shares a passion for sustainability, “These bins make me proud to be a Bull.”
Although I’m a city girl, I share the same beliefs as many farmers. We should put into the Earth what we take out of it, so the generations after us may also enjoy its beauty. The bins were a small memento of this effort to strive for the betterment of our future. So I ask everyone who reads this to remember that we do not inherit the world from our ancestors, we are simply borrowing it from our children.
SGEF is now taking fall 2013 proposals, and the deadline is Oct. 28th. Proposal forms can be found at usfsp.edu/sgef. Email mrleggett@mail.usf.edu for more information.
Sophia is a sophomore majoring in mass communications. She can be reached at sconstantine@mail.usf.edu
