Why did you enroll in this course?
The summer of my freshman year I went to Costa Rica for the sustainability class. The experience allowed me to realize how interested I am in seeing the benefits in of sustainable practices especially in developing countries. My family is from Honduras and seeing the contrast between two geographically similar countries take two vastly different approaches to develop made it very clear that sustainability is something we need to prioritize in the world. The overall feel of Costa Rica was that they took care of the planet that they lived on and even if they were to introduce tourism it would be in a way that they could still preserve the beauty and functionality of the land.
The first semester of my sophomore year I took the first Sustainable Development class with Professor Morris, this class was a great supplement to my civil engineering classes showing me the real impacts of industrializing with no concern for the health of the Earth.
I was very excited about getting my minor in Sustainable Development and decided to continue with the next course in the series to get the minor. I am excited to look at a real case study that I can impact.
How do you envision this course making you a better Civil Engineer?
I am very interested in becoming a green associate, meaning that I will have a general working knowledge of LEED. While studying for the US Green Building Council exams I think that as much exposure to sustainable practices and the impact that they make will be useful.
Civil Engineers in general need to be aware of the impact that they are making on the environment and for the people who need the land and resources that they are using. As a requirement for our major we also have to take Intro to Environmental Engineering. This class shows us the facts on how to protect the environment. In contrast, this class shows us the real-world impact that those facts make.
What solution do you propose for the issue of eyeglasses in Kenya?
I think this issue is very serious, as I view healthcare as a right that every human should have access to no matter where they live or how much money they make. Sight for someone in the working class can be a minimum requirement to get a job. So without being able to see an optometrist someone could be left jobless and unable to provide for themselves or if they have a family provide for their family. If they trained people in Kenya that had at least a high school degree to just be able to give a quick eye exam, then there could be a way for more people in Kenya to get a prescription for glasses. They also should use glasses that have durable frames, but can be manufactured at a cheap cost so that they can be the most accessible to the most people.