Dear Christopher Campbell,

Director of Community, Environment & Planning

I want to begin this reflection with a sincere and unadulterated thank you for your
leadership and subtle hand in guiding us through two years of Community, Environment &
Planning. I feel that I have understood what it means to learn through process rather than product,
thank you for being part of the path that made that journey possible.
I came to CEP with a wider range of experiences than many of my peers. Like many
CEPsters I attended two years of university, but I dropped out after, I took some pit stops that
made my education and development as a person all the more worth it. In this interim period
between Western Washington University and the UW I studied abroad and then traveled
internationally for a year and a half. It is impossible to put words to what I learned; even now I
cannot put words to my most punctuating observations.
In Tasmania, I remember looking west at the Picton Mountains, sitting in complete
wonder. They were the first mountain range that the storms of the Indian Ocean would hit on
their windblown march east. These storms hit the Picton Mountains with a revelatory power,
creating a rainforest and cleaving soil from the crags. Looking across the Southwest Valleys at
the giant Pictons I was transfixed by the audacity of my friends in their attempts both successful
and unsuccessful to scale these forlorn dynamos. In reflection I was left with a strong
appreciation of rocky peaks and forgotten stumps. These areas have so much working life, and so
much that needs preservation. The man-made reservoirs below that Picton range made saved
water on dry oceanic island. Compromise between people, other people and the environment,
even in this wild and unpopulated place \created an important water source and a reduction in the
natural beauty that was. But, I didn't know what to do with this understanding.

Chris, when we first met I had just gotten off the trail. I had spent 123 days hiking the
Pacific Crest Trail. It was rewarding and spiritual. Never in my whole life have I felt as patriotic
as those moments on the trail. I came from this understanding of myself and the environment and
my world to CEP. CEP took place in a loud square concrete building, it was brutal and I was
cynical. I was surrounded by who I felt were tools, I didnt know how to reveal myself amongst
the academia. My professors and fellow students would stand around drinking, fraternizing about
the most banal of pursuits. My cynicism wanted to respond, Who gives a fuck what classes we
take, I'm here for a vastly overvalued paper thin degree. This doesn't matter, university is a
closed bubble filled with good intentions. Part of me still feels this cynicism. It has taken hold
in my retorts and 'attacks'. And yet I couldnt rectify this cynicism with the real need to cajole
these people along my educational path. I digress in the words of Ginsberg: What peaches and
what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the
avocados, babies in the tomatoes! It seemed absolutely crazy to join CEP, after the real of the
outdoors, to sit through saccharine lectures waiting for the hook of conversation.
I came to CEP with a deep desire to learn practical skills, and while I learned many of
them, I now have a better and stronger harnessed ability to use my soft skills. At the Beacon
Food Forest before CEP, I fostered many of these soft skills. But in CEP I found a way to
'unleash them like the red roses of your heart, like releasing your latent potential.' I thought that
facilitation was a way to lead meetings, not necessarily as a way to teach others. Learning what
facilitation was was a wonderful realization. I enjoyed watching my fellow students facilitating
and leading discussions that were as stupid as graduation songs and as rich and dynamic as race,
class and privilege.
The moments I enjoyed most in CEP were the moments where I sought out my own path

to the answer, or could choose a focus and run with it. In this vein, my Senior Project fit my
method of learning; I could see the connections between soil, trunk and blossom. When I stepped
to the front of the classroom before my senior project at Senior Project Night I looked out at a
room of faces I was comfortable with. In the room was a smattering of CEP students. Two of my
professors were on my review panel. A former and future boss at EnviroIssues, Justin McCaffrey
reviewed. I knew everyone in the room personally, this feeling provided comfort and tranquility.
I was happy with my presentation; I finished on time and to a small applause. The questions at
the end were both useful and frustrating. They frustrated me because I feel that some of their
questions were more statements on the perils of Insurgent Uses rather than legitimate questions
about my project or delivery. After my presentation I was abundantly relieved. It felt so good to
be a couple steps closer to graduation. Like you said Chris, we get all stressed about SPN and
dont invite anyone. But then we regret it once our presentation goes wonderfully, and no one
was there to see it.
I noticed during my time in CEP that many of my peers would list their work within the
major and on school projects on their resumes. This is something that I havent ever done. But
Why? I ask myself?! Am I not proud of my work that I have done in CEP? I answer, No I am
completely satisfied with my work. I think that I contributed to the major in a meaningful way
and perhaps even created some new adventure of thought with Between the Ferns. But, why
dont I talk about the work of CEP in my resume?! I reckon that I feel out of place in school. All
of my friends graduated years ago and in a schema to present as an older person I neglect to
include CEP in my resume.
My personal relationships in CEP have grown stronger with some and waned with others.
I have found strong personal connections with Stephanie and Kelly, but have let others remain

undeveloped. I think that my relationship with Bryce Anderson has had a sincere test this year,
and while there was no significant result, I think that I can better handle myself with those that
are difficult to work with. Earlier this year I reached out to all of our international students in
CEP and offered to help them with Senior Projects. Each of the people I reached out to
eventually asked for my help. I helped Ying ying apply to a scholarship. I helped Iven write the
introduction to his senior project and an abstract. I helped Monica with her slides for Senior
Project Night, just hours before she presented. I guess I did this because in my travels, I know
how hard it can be to find solace in others. Being in a foreign country can be isolating. I wanted
them to know that I was rooting for them, and that receiving help is ok.
Reflecting with Nico earlier this year I came to the realization that since I was 16 years
old I have held a job. My first job at Quiznos at age 16 was a disappointment, I was let go but I
learned about how to work with others, and the need to have a character or persona whether it be
your own or fabricated. Since then I have worked abroad and served the less fortunate in a wide
variety of capacities. While in CEP I have held two jobs, often at the same time. It has been hard.
As a returning student with pre-existing debt I have tried to limit the amount of debt that I have
taken on, but it has been hard. I have worked about 20 hours per week at REI, most of my shifts
coincide with a full day of class, and I must bike between home, school and REI. I feel I have
gotten very good at prioritizing my time and making sure that when I am schooling I am moving
at a positive pace. Alongside REI, I have worked at EnviroIssues, a consulting firm where many
CEPsters find work. At EI, I have worked with larger teams on outreach efforts for community
and regional planning projects. I like this work but I wish it were more technical. I really enjoy
working on large teams with people who are gregarious and magnets for social joy. This
combination of work and school leaves me very little time for myself of the past two years. In

some ways I wonder if the rest of life will be the same. Will I have me time? Does having a
family create leave time for a father to follow his passions, or must you win the bread for the rest
of your days? In some ways I wish that we could have answered some of these larger questions
about life and work during our senior year retreat.
So here I am, through with two years of CEP. I am older, perhaps wiser, and more
indebted to my loans. Am I happy I came back to school? Am I happy that I took this route
through college? I think that I am. CEP has focused my ability to work with others. I am now
comfortable facilitating or leading groups in a way that I wasnt before. I am rarely scared to
stand up in front of a room of people. I have a degree on the wall. I have new and tangible hard
skills amongst my numerous soft skills. But more than these I believe that I have a knowledge of
what I enjoy doing, and how to these wonderful things in my life. I know I like working in
teams, I know I can handle stress. I know I dont need much to be happy. I am happy that I came
back to school and finished my degree. I know I would have been quite unfulfilled if I had
dropped into a more rigid major. In fact, if I hadnt had gotten into CEP, I was quite certain that I
wouldnt have attended UW. I was that fed up with Universities, but I found a community within
one.
Looking towards my own journey, I have several punctuated futures. This summer I will
continue to work at EnviroIssues, at a higher pay rate and with increased responsibilities. Around
thanksgiving I will depart for Guinea in West Africa, a place that I know you know well. I
applied for a PeaceCorps position doing AgroForestry. While I have a background in each of
these, they are not necessarily something that I die to do. I am excited to travel abroad again, and
see new cultures and ways of life that dont have as many false stressors as we have in America.
Thank you Chris for being a part of this transition. We enjoyed your reflection process and the

way that you drag others into the conversation. Without this reflection we would all be much
more aimless.

Sincerely,
George Winn

Community, Environment & Planning

University of Washington, Class of 2016