Natasha Wheat (above), a PSU Alum MFA Art and Social Practice, proposed Project Grow to Port City Development Center in January 2009.
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reflectionI absolutely love Project Grow. I am so glad that I stretched my boundaries with leadership and became a Student Leader for Service. I would never experienced this wonderful community if I had not. I know that I am in the right place at the moment in my life by how passionate I become with the people and the work. My compassion and empathy show through my commitment.
I recently attended an event hosted by NW Noggin called "Traumatic Brain Injury: Comedy, Communication, Community." The discussion was about what it is like through the brain to experience TBI and how society can foster inclusion and integration of community. The conversation was similar to conversations had at Project Grow. The social change that I am advocating for is hard but I am not alone. There are many people like me, and many opportunities to be a conduit for change in other communities. All I have to do is look right in front of me. I welcome the challenges, because if we are always comfortable, we are not flourishing. |
do it again |
I would absolutely do it again. In fact, I would not change much about what I have done thus far. Instead, with all of the other ideas about how I can serve the Project Grow community, I will just have to make time beyond my scheduled commitment to do those things. For instance, I want to help with something in the urban farm during the spring and summer.
When I was at home or school and needed to go to Project Grow, I would ruminate about the million other things that I needed to do and would drag my feet there. Honestly, this is just me toward a lot of things. Once I got to Project Grow, I would completely let go of my world and focused on them and before I knew it, five hours flew by. I would not change myself once I was at Project Grow, but I would try to change my mindset to get myself there. |
where do i go from here? |
I have proved my passion for wanting to help with my consistency. Now I have been invited to other and larger scale involvement. That invitation has proven my value to the community. I want to continue to be a part of the future of Project Grown and I will stay for as long as I am able. I am definitely going to see that the archiving project is complete. My next project aside from archiving is that I have been given the responsibility to curate a display that will be showcased at the New Season's in Slabtown. I am excited to expose a variety of Project Grow artists to a new part of town, and hopefully sell some art.
I AM IN. |