Lisa Marie's blog

Home and Belonging

I am from stacks of books

From hiking boots and oversized raincoats

I am from the high desert,

the scent of fresh air and dog and cat hair.

I am from the mountains and rivers,

the juniper trees

whose limbs I remember as if they were my own.

I am from PBS and NPR,

from Vietnamese music videos

from 52 cousins, laughter, and loud Irish Catholic family reunions.

I am from public libraries, hikes and bike rides.

I am from “Orygun not Ore-gone”

and the wisdom I have admired in my older brother

I am from Monopoly and “Jungle School”

from Oregon and Ireland

from my grandfather’s photos

and the diary entries stored under my bed.

Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to live in D.C. for an internship. After living in one place: Bend, Oregon for my entire life, coming across the country to study at Bryn Mawr, studying abroad in Copenhagen, and living for three months in D.C., I've discovered how I can appreciate and thrive in different places. My avatar shows how happy I was living in one place, but how excited I am for traveling, living in and developing a sense of belonging somewhere else. I think that this realization will be helpful in framing concepts that we discuss in this course cluster. The environment is all around us and shapes us in different ways, while we are simultaneously shaping our own environment.