celine5024
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 1
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I woke up the morning of October 23rd, excited, jittery and ready to make the long trek down the high way from Mcminnville to Salem, Oregon. The day before my friends had done a leg of the relay running from campus to downtown Portland and around and back. The next group had gone on to run to Linfield College in McMinnville. This is where we would take the torch and continue on the road to the Capitol. I smiled. This is what true hands on activism is, I thought as my spirits climbed even higher. This is the power of the student voice, the will of the young and the informed. Let’s show those officials what we are made of.
The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, the most abnormal weather for a day in Oregon. It was exquisitely beautiful; the air was crisp, but not too cold and the leaves of all the trees along the highway burned with amazing fall colors. We arrived at the destination where we were to park the car and begin our bike ride down the highway to Salem. We got out of the car, and I stretched and drank some water with the other two riders. Our bikes were unloaded, helmets put on, pictures taken and the Green Torch—a cardboard tube painted green and gold with a renewable energy light bulb strapped on the top—taped to the handle bars of the front rider’s bicycle. We were set to go. As we rode along the highway, I gazed to the left and right at the wide expanses of orchards, golden vineyards and green grassy fields stretched from the road to the horizon. I felt the warmth of the sun on my face and the cool air whistling in my ears. We were making pretty good time considering the slight wind resistance.
We were the last leg of the relay and would arrive in Salem where we would meet students at Willamette College, then walk to the Capitol building to present the torch along with a long invitation with the signatures of hundreds of students and concerned citizens to the Oregon State Representatives and Senators. This relay, our project, is known as the Green Torch Relay and was a collaboration of Lewis and Clark students with Willamette College and Focus the Nation event coordinators. The goal of the project was to invent a creative way to deliver the invitation to the officials that would show our commitment to saving the environment and coming up with alternative solutions to the environmental crisis of global warming. The invitation is a call to the government’s officials to meet with students and citizens in Portland, OR on January 31st, 2008. The hope is that the officials will finally sit down and listen and discuss ideas with students and citizens on how to create and sustain plans of action for renewable energy sources and environmental conservation practices.
After a few hours of riding we finally arrived at the outskirts of Salem. The torch was passed between the three of us, and when I held it in my hand I felt a new wave of excitement and fulfillment run through my arms and legs. I pumped the pedals faster as we caught sight of the bridge we were to cross to come into the downtown. As we neared the opposite side of the bridge, a camera crew with video cameras and a newspaper reporter with his professional camera snapped footage and photos of the three triumphant riders. I held my fingers up in a peace sign and smiled as we rode by.
We got to Willamette College where they were holding a rally and there were students and teachers speaking on behalf of the event and the importance of environmental activism. Our two groups merged and we all made the trek over to the steps of the Capitol building. There we met a representative for the Representative of Oregon, not what we were hoping for, but still rewarding, and presented him with the torch and the invitation, which we rolled out on the ground of the top steps. After our spokeswoman gave our message to him, he responded to us with gratitude for all our hard work and gave us an almost affirmative answer to the question of whether the officials would join us in January or not. Though it was the not the ideal reaction one would hope for after such hard work (physical and other), considering all other experiences I’ve had involving government officials in high up positions, this was a positive one. On the bus back up to Portland, I reflected on the ride and the project as a whole. I have never felt more certain of the immense importance of young people’s activism, getting their voice heard amidst all the other voices out there. Students and young people in general have the future in their hands—the future of the current and of future generations. At this time, the issue involving our earth’s environment is at the top of the list in regards to urgency. Without a clean, functioning planet, I’m afraid that all else will cease to have any importance because without a planet, we have nothing. Everyone has to do their part to preserve the environment. But I feel that it is the young voices, the students and youth who will have the biggest impact. We are the ones who have the ability to look at our world with fresh eyes and to see the possibilities for change. It is our responsibility to bring to attention the necessary changes that must take place in order to restore our earth and preserve our planet. I think the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative helps youth realize this responsibility and push us along in our mission of cleaning up the world around us.
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