My Experience Away at Woolman Semester

Here is a letter that i wrote in February talking about my experience at Woolman Semester at Sierra Friends Center. It is becoming clear that i should start to post for those people who want to have way to figure out how my life is changing and in transition.

This letter was one of two letters that i wrote to my meeting and was read at the February Meeting for Business. This one was the reason for the second but you might want to read the second one first because it leads into this one.

February 5, 2006

Dear Santa Cruz Friends Meeting,

Thank you for giving me a scholarship so that I could take part in the 2005 Fall Woolman Semester. It was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot and grew in many ways.

Three weeks into school, we set out on a wilderness-backpacking trip so that we could get to know the ecosystem we would live in for four months. On the trip, I learned how to read a topographical map and how to set-up a shelter with a plastic tarp, rocks, and rope.

In November, we went on a two and a half week service-learning trip to Mexico. I experienced how stressful it is to drive with a whole lot of people who all have a different opinion on what we should do. First, we think that we want to stop and eat lunch but then some one notices that we are only an hour from a nice park.

We took a week to drive down the Eastern Sierra’s to give presentations on California water issues for our Environmental Science class. I gave a presentation on the Salton Sea, which is twenty- five percent saltier than the Pacific Ocean. One of the reasons for the Salton Sea’s salinity is because the main inlet is agricultural run off, which contains extra salt from the ground. The sea is also evaporating faster than water is coming in so salt is being left behind and the concentration is rising.

We were in Mexico for eight days. Mexico was quite different from the United States; as soon as we crossed the boarder, we saw pedestrians crossing the highway. While trying to caravan with three cars, one of which was an old beat up van, we almost got into three car accidents but we made it safely without touching other cars. Being in Mexico reminded me that poverty around the world is really close and that you don’t need to travel very far to find out how people live differently. It was interesting to see the poverty in Mexico (near the United States) and to remember the poverty I saw in Rwanda seven years ago.

While in Mexico, we worked on multiple projects: finishing a community clinic, tiling a counter, and working on an addition to a building. I mostly worked on the tiling project. While working, I learned that it is really easy to get hurt and make bad decisions when it is late at night and there is not enough light.

In our World Issues class, we learned about media literacy and globalization. Using what we learned in the first ten weeks, each of us wrote a ten-page research paper on whatever world issue we wanted. I wrote about the Second Congo Civil War, which is supposedly done but really is still being fought. The Congo War is a war that was started after the Rwandan Genocide because the genocide perpetrators fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s jungles and Rwanda was scared that they were planning another genocide with the help of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s president.

In Peace Studies, I wrote a letter to Selective Services declaring conscientious objector status but did not send it in. I am still trying to decide how everything I have learned informs what I believe and how to best communicate what I believe. Before writing our letters, the class read the Quaker peace testimony from Faith and Practice; I found myself struggling with the wording. This has been one of the major thought provoking parts of my life in school. I do believe in peace but I do not understand why “… all war is inconsistent with God’s will.” (Pg 43). Why would we have war if God had not wanted us to stand up for what we believe? I believe that there is a difference between fighting for food and fighting for resources on another continent. I believe that most of the wars we have been in are against what God would want us to do but I do believe there is a time and place for military help.

We also took Humanities and Ethics where we looked at how the Quaker testimonies fit into our everyday life. This was very helpful because it really made me contemplate how I could change my lifestyle to fit more with my values.

I also grew spiritually. It was extremely nice to be able to go to Meeting every week and have some time to meet with other Quakers. It was wonderful to have Quarterly Meeting at Sierra Friends Center while I was there. Quarterly was extremely moving because spiritual leadings are something that I have been dealing with over the last six months or so.

Woolman was an exciting place for me to explore my spiritual life and learn more about myself. Thank you for supporting all of us who have had the chance to take part in the Woolman Semester.

Thanks,

Rebecca Sullivan

Santa Cruz Friends Meeting