Activation Energy

Not many of us are fortunate enough to love what we do for work. Truly love it. Wake up excited to do it (ok not every single day, I’m still just a human, but most days). And every day, wake up grateful for it.

And to work for an organization that believes in you and is willing to provide you with the boost you need to achieve a dream: exceptionally priceless.

I am incredibly lucky to work (and live) at just such a place. The Cambridge School of Weston awards its annual Alorie Parkhill Faculty Travel Grant to two faculty each year, and it brings me great joy and gratitude to be such a recipient this year.

CSW is largely to credit for my inspiration, drive, and bandwidth that resulted in my project, The Sea & She, and for which I’ve received the grant. I have the privilege of teaching some of the brightest, most empathetic, and promising teenagers I’ve known, and work among brilliant, compassionate, and talented colleagues. Where students and teachers learn together, side-by-side, and students have significant agency in their academic process. Where the personal passions of faculty are not just valued but routinely tapped into as necessary and desired components of the curriculum.

We live in absolutely wild times these days, especially in education and especially as a community that deeply values Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging. Leaning into what makes us grow and thrive is crucial for surviving the daily onslaught of horrifying destruction of the fabric of our country, and the Parkhill Grant is giving me a profound boon to do just that. As a singular little piece of this unique and important community, it is my greatest hope that I can bring back something joy-inducing and awe-inspiring to CSW.

Not just for CSW, either. This is where things get even more exciting. I have wanted to expand my writing life for years, and have done so in very small incremental measurements (less so since working on my doctorate), and have really needed just a little bit of “activation energy” as it were. The Sea & She will not be a magnum opus, but rather just the beginning of the writing I hope to continue to pursue linking science, feminism, environmentalism, and hope.

Thank you, CSW, for this opportunity of a lifetime.