Ruth Shafer

The only thing I like better than making stuff is remaking stuff. So it was perfect for me when I got a job as an Ecoleader and was responsible for making practices here at Northfield Mount Hermon more sustainable and the community as a whole more environmentally aware. I came up with an idea called “Sustainable Scribbles” to save paper. It involved going through recycling bins to collect paper with a clean side and then binding it into notepads, which we sold.

 

As a senior I work in the costume shop. I did theater before NMH so it was interesting to get back into it from a completely different angle. It let me play with clothing, one of my favorite things. I got to research fashion magazines, learn about different time periods, and even dress my friends who acted in the shows. Plus, there was still an environmental aspect to it because the clothing gets altered and used multiple times, for different time periods or actors.

 

I guess I’m drawn to the concept of reuse and repetition, whether it’s a sheet of paper, a costume, or something in my life. For example, one semester, I had to choose between study abroad in France and taking art. It was a tough decision, but when I was younger I had studied French for so long and it just seemed like something that needed to return to my life. So I went, and it was glorious. My host family was wonderful, especially my incredibly kind, open, and goofy host sister.

 

NMH really opened my eyes to all the things I can do with my life and, more important, has shown me how to connect those possibilities to things I care about. Maybe I’ll open an organic bakery. Maybe I’ll work for an international aid organization. But the first thing I want to do is go back to France and visit my host family. In other words, I want to explore both the familiar and the unknown. But that’s life. It’s looking at yourself and the world and really opening your eyes…and then reopening them.