Undergraduate / Pitzer supplement essay: Sustainability and Social Responsibility [3]

Reflecting on your involvement throughout high school or within the community, how have you engaged with one or more of Pitzer's core values?

Sustainability and Social Responsibility

I grew up in Jakarta, a concrete jungle in the middle of more than 17000 beautiful islands that all represent one country: Indonesia. Between beautiful beaches and lush green mountains, Jakarta is city plagued with pollution due to constant traffic on the streets, and plastic covered lakes and rivers. The cause to this, however, is just one: the lack of awareness. The general public is oblivious to the consequences of these environmental problems, and the very few that aren't, don't do anything because they don't think they're enough to bring a change.

For example, in Jakarta, it is extremely common to burn waste, the reason for this belief is: "it is the easiest way to manage the waste! Set it on fire and 'poof' it's gone." To them it the most efficient way of handling waste, however, they aren't aware of how the smoke that is emitted from the waste contains chemicals that pollute the very air we breathe.

In grade 10, upon learning more about the negative effects on burning waste, I set out on a mission to raise awareness about its effects on the environment. I wrote an article about the negative effects of burning waste, which got published in a local newspaper and magazine: The Jakarta Post and Jakarta Expat Magazine. Furthermore, I often also went to educate the waste management workers along with a few other classmates and our art teacher, who supported us in our venture.

During my junior and sophomore years, I also had the opportunity to become a member of Global Issues Network Indonesia (GINDO), which is an inter-school organization that is lead by the youth to solve some of the pressing issues of our generation. As a member of the organization, I have taken part in many events aimed to provide service to the local community. Among others, Cilincing project and Clean-Up Jakarta were events I volunteered for, both aiming to clean polluted areas near the school. We segregated the waste materials as organic and non-organic in the area and strived to raise awareness regarding the importance of segregating waste. Currently, I'm also working on a new project aiming to introduce a proper waste management system in my school. Together with school, I am working with waste banks to help us recycle all of the school waste. We are also encouraging the community near the school to segregate their waste, instead of burning it.

Indonesia, can easily be considered amongst of the most beautiful countries in the world, yet it's capital city itself contradicts what the country represents. This is also due to the lack of education in remote areas, which is why, in grade 11, as a part of Global Issues Network Jakarta, I volunteered to help build a kindergarten, in less developed city near jakarta. We worked on building the pavement, the roof, and painting the walls both inside and outside the school.

Growing up in Jakarta has taught me the importance of preserving the environment and that with little conscious effort we can contribute a lot to the world. Therefore, environmental sustainability and social responsibility is the core value I resonate with the most.

Undergraduate / Common App: Personal essay - Idealistic me [2]

I need to cut a few words, please help decided which parts to leave out.

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

one of my proudest moments

As I sat outside the vice principal's office, my mind thought all of his possible reactions to my proposal. This was my third appointment with him regarding the implementation of a a better waste management system, and hopefully the last.

"Why am I still trying?" I thought as I reminded myself of all the seniors and classmates that had warned me about the rejections of all the previous proposals. Residing in a small remote area of Jakarta, our school is very far from most waste banks, making it difficult for us to come up with a cost efficient way of managing the school waste.

"Aradhya, you may come in now."
Taking in a deep breath, I tell him my idea.

"Oh no, he's going to say no and reject the entire proposal." I think to myself.

"Hmm. okay, fine. I'll approve, but only because we have already recovered all of the costs from the production already. Good Job!"

This was probably one of my proudest moments. My heart was about to explode; the proposal got accepted!

People always say I'm a bit too idealistic - I guess it was my idealism that decided to work on another proposal despite knowing that all the previous ones had been rejected. I was set on at least giving it a try, and I had come prepared. Even before making my first appointment with the vice principal, I had already talked to the management head of the school and the head of the cleaning department to try understand possible issues that could arise due to the change. I worked with the management to convince the trash collectors to send the waste items to proper waste banks instead of landfills. All the previous proposals had asked the waste banks to send their own trash trucks, which required the school to collect 1 ton of waste per day or store waste until we managed to collect 1 ton of waste. Hence, even though the school would need to pay a higher price for sending waste to different destinations, convincing the existing trash collectors was crucial, this way, the janitors would not have to go through the extra trouble to store the waste; there wouldn't be much change in the existing system, making it easier for the school.

In the first meeting with the vice principal, I could tell he was impressed but not convinced. I reassured him that I am taking this project seriously, and that I will take care of all the logistics.

Although he didn't approve the proposal in the first time, he was willing to help me improve it. He advised me to talk to the finance and the primary department regarding all the costs. After a few discussions with the finance department, I found that the amount we needed to raise was much more than what I had imagined.

This was going to be problematic - from the very start I knew that I had to make sure that the new waste management system would have to cost efficient, if not it wouldn't get approved. As I walked out of the finance department, I noticed some of my friends selling the school's new production tickets and that's when I got the idea of using the extra money earned from the production for this new project of mine. If I managed to help the school sell some tickets, I could ask the school to allow us to use the money earned from the tickets on this project.

I knew that the chances of this idea getting approved were very low, even my friends kept telling me that this wasn't going to work. Despite all of the above, idealistic me decided otherwise.

Earlier, I used to think being idealistic was weakness, but now I know being idealistic is actually a strength. Even though, this project is still at its earlier stages, and I'm sure there will be more problems to be faced in the future, I now have the confidence to face them.