First-year Student Shares Her Passion For the Environment by Anita Lancaster
		NOVEMBER 15, 2001--In third grade, Shoshana Friedman '05 announced that she wanted to be an environmental activist when she grew up. Her strong connection to the earth has led her to Oberlin, where she has already declared a major in environmental studies. And as only one of 12 recipients of the Henry David Thoreau Scholarship this past year, Friedman has been recognized as an individual with the potential to affect positive change in the way humans respond to their environment in the future. While the Thoreau Scholarship celebrates Friedman's potential, Oberlin has recognized that the first-year student has much more to offer. Friedman, a native of Woban, Massachusetts, is a passionate individual with diverse interests who spent the summer of 1999 in Costa Rica with Global Works, a program for American high school students. "By far the most amazing part of the trip for me was a two-week stay with a family on the Nicoya Peninsula," she says. "I fell in love with the people and their pura vida attitude towards life. The phrase literally means 'pure life,' but can be a colloquial substitute for 'fine' or 'great.' But more deeply, it is a whole philosophy of loving life complete with all its ups and downs, and imparting that love on all the people in your life as well as on the natural world." Friedman has studied Spanish since the third grade, when her elementary school teacher at The Atrium in Watertown, Massachusetts, introduced her class to Central American culture, history and political strife. "My class even organized a mercado [marketplace] to sell the crafts we made, and then sent the money to a village in El Salvador," says Friedman. "My teacher went to live in that village two years later. I was very close to her and that experience has had a huge impact on my life." Friedman's passion for South American culture extends beyond mere tourism. She plans to return to Costa Rica, but will take the knowledge of sustainable environmental practices that she researches at Oberlin to initiate an ecological program overseas. "I want to be able to communicate and implement environmental solutions so that the people whose lives are affected by these issues understand and contribute to the project," Friedman says. Travel aside, Friedman's first few months at Oberlin have been quite an adjustment. In addition to her studies, she has joined Oberlin's Jewish Women's Group, and is pursuing her musical talents by singing with the all-women's a cappella group Nothing But Treble. "I've had quite a ride these past few months adjusting to life away from my family and trying to let myself sink into this incredible community," says Friedman. "Being in a place where so many students care so passionately and openly about the environment has actually been a funny shock. The work I did through my environmental club during high school designated me as an environmentalist. It was a defining aspect of my identity that is not as visible in a community full of people who care about these issues. At the same time, it is wonderful to have this part of me nurtured at Oberlin." Ambitious and focused, Friedman is using her energy to make the most of her time at Oberlin in preparation for a career that will teach others to protect the earth by developing sustainable life styles. "As a society it is important to understand that the core of our problem is an attitude of separation from and disrespect for nature," Friedman says. "It's time to remember that instead of exploiting the earth it is our responsibility and our right to love and protect it."
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