This fall brought about change, as we transitioned to completing Land-Based courses online and over zoom. During this time, we completed our ethics courses and an Interdisciplinary Seminar in Foundations of Land-Based Education. This course worked to examine the effects of colonialism on our education systems on both a local and global scale, through both historic and contemporary contexts. We were tasked with critically examining Indigenous vs. Western paradigms, and how they inform educational theory and practice.

It was during this season I got to slow down and reacquaint myself with rest. In our hyper normative grind culture society, it can become a slippery slope for a poor brown kid searching for purpose. This journey has not come without sacrifice and often requires seeking balance physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet, this quiet time also reminded me of my goals: living life being held by the Land and Community without binaries and free of hetero-normative judgement.