I am John Muir

In American Environmental History, we’re utilizing a teaching/learning method called Reacting to the Past. The premise is interesting but relatively simple. Instead of being lectured on certain events throughout world history, students are all assigned roles of important people during that period. We are divided into different factions who each have select victory objectives. Then we take turns giving speeches, presenting arguments, and voting on issues depending on the “game” we’re playing. Students might be in the Assembly in Ancient Greece or the Constitutional Congress in Revolutionary America. Possibilities are only limited to the number of games played in one semester.

For this class, we are having hearings before the Senate in the 1913 Hetch Hetchy Debate. This debate is to determine if the Raker Bill is to go into law. The Raker Bill proposed that the Tuolomne River which flows through the Hetch Hetchy Valley should be dammed to provide water and power for the city of San Francisco. This bill makes sense being as the Hetch Hetchy dam would be the most cost effective and powerful solution. The major problem is that the Hetch Hetchy is within the confines of Yosemite National Park.

Nobody wants this beautiful land to fall into the hands of corporate greed, but opposing factions have different ideas about what should become of the land. The Conservationists are in favor of the dam while the Preservationists radically oppose it. I play John Muir, founder of the famed Sierra Club and head of the Preservationists. John Muir is a real historical figure with profound writings. He is often called the first American environmentalist because of his efforts in this Hetch Hetchy dispute.

Though Muir never testified before the Senate, my character John Muir does. So tomorrow I’m set to give a 2 minute testimony about why I believe the Hetch Hetchy valley shouldn’t be dammed. I’ve decided to share with you what I wrote.

Yosemite is a National Park.  National Parks have been protected, set aside from municipalities and private interests, because thousands of tired, nerve-shaken people have found that going to the mountains is going home.  The Hetch Hetchy valley is not only in Yosemite, it is Yosemite.  It is a National Park.  As previously decided, no Right of Way Act ought to destroy such a temple forged by God Himself.

The pithy politicians who testified last session were more concerned with their reputations and reelections than the spiritual well-being of their own people, for from my journeys I know one thing: civilization needs wilderness.  These money changers and water-power pushers are interested in saving money, not saving this priceless land.  They want personal legacies, not peace of mind and refuge for American citizens. They live on the world but not in it—separate and rigidly alone in their marble homes, disconnected from the reality of this wild land.

My friends, I have lived in the world.  I have swam in the Tuolumne and slept on the grasses of these meadows.  I’ve scaled the granite walls of this valley and inhaled the fresh air of these pines.  This canyon is the heart of the Sierras.  To dam such a land would be to cut off this national treasure, the lifeblood of this region, from the public.  To dam such a land would set a relentless precedent for all protected places.  To dam Hetch Hetchy!  Why not dam the Grand Canyon of Arizona and harvest the rocks of the Yellowstone?  What’s stopping you from chopping down sequoias for lumber and building towers in Central Park?  To dam this valley would be the same as damming your churches and cathedrals.  This is a place of worship.

The Hetch Hetchy valley is the future of our country.  If we allow it to be removed from Yosemite and exploited for its infrastructure, then every future park will be at risk.  The 90 million people of this country need beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in.  Your choice determines our country’s future.

John Muir on October 11, 1913

Bartram’s Garden

Last week, I went on my first ever field trip in college. It was for my American Environmental History class. We visited Bartram’s Garden in Southwest Philly. Sitting right on the bank of the Schuylkill, this garden was started in the mid 1700s by John Bartram, a botanist and friend to many of the founding fathers. Bartram travelled from Ontario to Florida, collected different species of flora, and propagated them back on his garden. This place soon became a spot of refuge for the founding fathers when they wanted to get away from the busyness of dmeocracy planning.

I decided to share part of my essay for my post today. I think it was meaningful. Hopefully you find it to be, too.

Though the origin story of United States is a rather sad story of Indian removal and genocide, the sentiment of a democratic republic which offers opportunities for all people to flourish is at the core of this country.  From the beginning, people from opposing cultures, beliefs, and ideologies were welcomed to come together, have difficult discussions, and learn to coexist among each other.  This is exactly what Bartram did in his garden: he brought plants together from opposite lands and helped them live next to one another in a symbiotic relationship. Just as different plants needed different soils and nutrients, so too do different ethnic groups and cultures have different needs.  

In the 18th century Philadelphia was the center of the nation, a true melting pot of ideas and initiatives.  If Independence Hall was the brain of the city, then Bartram’s Garden was the heart.  As in the body the heart is separated from the brain by about 18 inches, so too is Bartram’s separated from Center City.  The Schuylkill River, being the main artery that connected the head and the heart, could be likened to the aorta.  This primary blood vessel carried the lifeblood of liberalism and democracy from the floral assemblage of Bartram’s to the rest of the city, the nation, and the continent.  As we are sprung into action by the beating of the heart, so too were the founding fathers inspired to bring people from all nations, races, and cultures together in this one, United States.

Though my analogy may not be wholly accurate, I believe it touches on the importance of this garden in the history of our nation.  It’s really no wonder Bartram’s has withstood the test of time: the diversity of the plants and the community that keeps it thriving are the same diversity and community at the core of American identity.  Though our culture has moved away from the land, agriculture, and the love of the natural world, I believe places like Bartram’s can bring us back into harmony with one another.  Maybe a better understanding of our ecological home and the beauty within it might just help elevate us to a higher octave of humanity, an octave rich in appreciation of diversity and communal support of one another.  

I’ll be sure to visit Bartram’s again soon so I can be reminded of how, together, we can make this a better home for everybody.

Aaron Lemma

No Man Left Behind

Over 2,800 people died at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. If I told yo the death toll could have been doubled because of one man, would you believe me? Let me tell you about Rick Rescorla.

Rick Rescorla was born in Cornwall, England. He always wanted to be a soldier. He eventually got his wish in 1963, moving to the United States and joining the fight against communism in Vietnam. Rick worked his way up to platoon leader, and was called one of the most effective and compassionate platoon leaders of the war effort. Fast forward about 20 years and he became head of security for Dean Witters, a stock brokerage/investment company later acquired by Morgan Stanley. The company occupied nearly 40 floors in the South Tower of the World Trace Center.

Rick did not take his job lightly. He had a profound sense of responsibility for the safety of the Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter employees, and every day he came to work to serve them. At the time, the Twin Towers were essentially the center of world capitalism. Rick believed this significance made the Towers subject to attack by terrorist forces. He brought in outside contractors to assess the building’s weaknesses. Alongside these contractor, Rick predicted the WTC would be bombed from the basement garage. He tried to warn Port Authority, but nobody listened to him. On February 26, 1993, Rick’s vision came true: a bomb was set off in the basement of the WTC and six people were killed.

Rick believed this wouldn’t be the last terrorist attack on the WTC. He advised his company to relocate to New Jersey, but the lease wasn’t up until 2005. So Rick took initiative. He did quarterly fire drills and required all Morgan Stanley employees to comply and evacuate (their offices were on floors 40-70). He prepared for what he believed was the inevitable, though nobody believed him.

On September 11, 2001, a plane flew into the North Tower. Port Authority got on the intercom of the South Tower and told everybody to stay put, that they were safe where they were. Rick didn’t buy it for a second. Instead, he grabbed his megaphone and evacuated every floor of Morgan Stanley. While people were running down the stairs (which had failsafe lighting he installed), Rick was going back up the stairs, singing “God Bless America” and making sure people moved calmly. He was last seen on the 10th floor, after the plane flew into the South Tower. He was going back up to make sure everybody had evacuated.

Rick successfully evacuated 2,700 WTC employees on September 11. Over 2,800 died. This is the untold story of American history, the story of a hero who wouldn’t settle for anything less than excellent peroration and effective execution. When the time came, he sprung into action, defying the odds and seeing his mission through until the end. One of the mottos of his life was “Leave No Man Behind.” Rick Died when the South Tower collapsed.

This is a truly remarkable story, but Rick is not superhuman. He was like all of us. He had his opinions and his shortcomings. He had fearful situations in life and went through divorce. He was always fighting authority and nobody listened to him. Regardless he was a leader, a hero. He was empathetic, compassionate, aware, selfless, prepared, confident, intelligent, and didn’t settle for anything less than his best. He had the Heart of a Soldier, as the book by James Steward attests (read this book and also the New Yorker article The Real Heroes are Dead if you want to learn more about Rick and his magnificent life).

Rick Rescorla changed the history of the world because he believed in himself and his mission. So can we.

How Not to Worry

Before I give away my secrets, I need you to know that I’ve had a lot of stressful, worrisome situations in the first 22 years of my life. I’ve worked in a fast paced restaurant and endured 14 hour days working on the golf course. I’ve studied hours for Organic Chemistry exams and submitted more papers one minute before their deadlines than I can count. I race other human beings around a track and have felt the pressure of wanting to perform well for my team, my coach, and myself. I started a business as a full time student-athlete-RA-tutor-catechist while still doing my best to make time for my girlfriend and family.

Stress, pressure, existential crises, nervous breakdowns, deep sadness…I’ve felt it all. I’ve lived it. But now things are different. When a challenge or obstacle is in my way, I remind myself of two things that help me reframe my situation and put things in perspective.

Here’s my 1 – 2 punch for stopping worry before it enters my being:

  1. Remember how much you’ve accomplished. You’ve made it through a lot to get here. You can handle this. You got this.
  2. You’re going to die. One day, you stop breathing and your days as a human being will be over. Whatever you’re up against surely counts, but doesn’t matter. This life is too short to be take so seriously.

There’s one final step, but it’s less of a mindset shift and more of a practicality. It’s to write down everything you have to do, prioritize what must be done first, and then execute. This helps me every time, no matter the situation. Worry turns into initiative and you can begin chipping away at the obstacles, winning small victories along the way. Action beats anxiety.

But that’s it. That’s the whole story. It’s about self confidence—you will accomplish the tasks at hand because you always accomplish the tasks at hand. And it’s about not taking this life too seriously. After all, we should be enjoying our existence, not dreading it.

Today I had to wake up at 5:30 am to lift. Today I was set to squat more than I’ve ever squatted before across 5 sets. I did it. Then I had to study for 2 hours before a test I didn’t yet study for. I studied, took the test, and aced it (hopefully). Then I had to study an hour for another test I didn’t prepare for. I studied. I did well. Then I had to go on a long run. I decided to go with the distance crowd for 7.5 miles. I did it. And I didn’t worry for a second.

This method doesn’t remove stressful situations. You will still have things to worry about, but it’s your decision to worry or to take meaningful action to accomplish your mission. I hope this perspective helps you choose the latter.

Improvise

Tonight in my Perspectives in Leadership class the Improv Team came and lead us through some improv games. We learned how to think differently, how to set people up for success, and how to understand that others probably don’t see situations the way we do. It was an interesting and meaningful tie-in with leadership.

One perspective shared was “life is improv.” This means two things: that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously and that we should allow ourselves to fail. I like this perspective. Being serious is a trap. It sucks the joy out of life. Instead, we should play more and be grateful for our falls, scraped knees, and dirty hands. This world is our playground and we should treat it as such (so long as we clean up after ourselves).

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” And in Luke 17:21, Jesus says: “…nor will they say ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of heaven is in your midst.”

So the kingdom of heaven is in my midst. That means it’s here. And I can’t enter the kingdom unless I become like a child—more open, not so serious, and innocent. This means if I become like a child and play more, I can experience the kingdom of heaven here, now.

Time to stop being so serious.

Uneducate Yourself

My family and I went to eat at a nice Japanese / Chinese restaurant yesterday. The fortune in my fortune cookie read as follows: “only the educated are free.”

Nobody knows who writes these “fortunes.” When they are right, we praise them. When they are wrong, we don’t pay them any mind. Usually. This time was different. I don’t agree with this fortune.

This short statement says a few thing about human nature. The first is that you should “be educated,” whatever that means. The next is that those who aren’t educated are not free. What the author means by education is unknown.

Here’s why I don’t agree. An uneducated person can learn to sit with himself, calm his mind, and meditate on the many observable, sensible mysteries of the world. Through this approach he can free himself from the rat races of the world—he can became free of the trappings of his own mind.

And tell me, who is truly free: an educated man who has learned all there is to learn or an uneducated man who is ready to learn anything?

Are you Irreplaceable?

So tonight I’m presenting in my Perspectives in Leadership class. My classmate and I were asked to “enhance a discussion” on Trait Theory. This leadership theory says that effective leaders possess similar characteristics, such as intelligence, determination, self-confidence, and integrity. Makes sense. Trait Theory has its flaws, too. One flaw is that good leadership is always developed.

All things considered, we will be talking about being irreplaceable. Like the Beyoncé song. Here’s some guiding questions:

If good leaders have innate qualities, are they considered irreplaceable? Should they be irreplaceable? If a good leader dies and nobody replaces him or her, were they really a good leader? Or is leadership something more profound, something less ego-driven, something that ought to be replicated, replaced, and modeled?

If Bill Belichick died tomorrow, would the Patriots be dominated?

If LeBron couldn’t play on the Lakers, what would the team look like?

If Serena Williams disappeared, what would happen to Women’s Tennis?

Here is my theory: Good leaders are replaceable. They work to set up systems to ensure organizational success and they spend time developing their followers into leaders. Their loss should not be the death of their company.

But this theory is temporal. It doesn’t mean you should strive to be replaced. It means quite the opposite. You should be irreplaceable by becoming a leader and building up those around you; then you may be replaced.

It’s a team approach, an ego-less pursuit. It’s something I will be struggling with my whole life.

I am uniquely irreplaceable. That is why I must be replaced.

Open Your Mind

An intelligent professor with nothing else to learn lectures to a class too disinterested and uncomfortable to challenge him.

A learned professor is slow to make assumptions while discussing controversial perspectives of reality with her thoughtful, respectful class.

Which is higher education?