Happy Friday, everyone! I'm excited for this week's content. In terms of Sempervirens news, I loved attending the annual HECA Conference of independent educational consultants in Washington, D.C. this past week, where I was grateful to meet a whole host of other college counselors from all over and hear from admissions officers, expert data crunchers, and test prep geniuses (genii?). I saw the campuses of Howard University (HBCUs are so inspiring! Kamala Harris went there!), Trinity Washington (mentioned last week as the alma mater of Waymo Co-CEO Tenedra Mawakana), and American University (beautiful arboretum, impressively involved students). I also accidentally met Senator Elizabeth Warren for a minute; she was exceptionally friendly. This coming week, I'm excited and grateful to be at two events: Bloomberg's SF session on Intelligent Automation, and the Bloomberg Technology Summit. I'm really grateful to Arena Choi and Marie Sylvestre of Bloomberg (and their teams) for their support of my attendance—thank you both so very much.
First
It'll be no surprise that as someone who named a non-botany-related company after redwood trees, plants and nature hold a special place in my life. I also spent time living for a summer and an academic year in India and China, respectively, so the beauties of Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist traditions have enriched my understanding of the world for quite some time. I loved and found fascinating, then, this article that discusses a new conception of humans as organism clusters, so to speak; meta-organisms that comprise both our human-ness and also all of the bacteria and other organisms in our microbiome that we carry with us (yum). According to the folks at Imperial College London and other respected institutions, we humans are holobionts (there was no pronunciation guide; I'm going with "HALL-oh-bye-aunts" with aunts said the East Coast way). I love articles that not only bend my brain and teach me new terms like 'metagenomics' and 'rhizosphere' but that also get me right-click-opening-in-new-tab on research papers from 1997. That paper in particular, which I have yet to read but think looks awesome, discusses connections that non-dual Buddhism and Taoism share with the previously-unknown-to-me field of deep ecology (I know, sounds profound). While reading this article, I thought about how kombucha fans have been talking about gut health for years, and how an impactful book I read ten years ago began my education about a [generally speaking, more] Eastern conception of the self that's more concerned with group harmony and relational interactions than with individuality (thanks, Mom!). The relational nature of the concept of a holobiont also brought to mind the bioregionalism movement, which (I think rather implausibly) advocates for creating political regions based primarily on biome, and also made me think of Thich Nhat Hanh's quote saying that we're all leaves of the same tree. Finally, I have to share with you, since we're here topically, this conversation from On Being with Robin Wall Kimmerer, who is a botanist, member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, professor of environmental science, and author of Braiding Sweetgrass. As of last year, she is also a recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship. At 16:40, which is the part of the conversation most relevant here, she advocates for the personhood of plants. Just listen and see if you don't buy it even a little bit. Or, if that's too far for you this time around, at least take a second and think about a tree that you've particularly liked at some point in your life. I bet there's at least one. I bet you even talked to it.
Second
I've written previously about the viability of the entertainment industry and how I think it will continue to hold reliable job opportunities for students; earlier this week I was really intrigued by this article on the Las Vegas Golden Knights. It caught my attention at the beginning by quoting the ambitious, strategy-focused owner as saying prophetically back in 2017, "Playoffs in three. Cup in six." Much like the book Thinking Fast and Slow, I felt like I got the gist of the article about a third of the way through (with all respect), but unlike that book, I read the entire article here (took me about 12 mins). If you're pressed for time, I thought the most useful part of the article occurred before the following section header: "'What kind of carnage is left in their wake?'" (don't worry; it's a business metaphor). I hadn't thought of the Knights as a startup previously, but the article makes a solid case for that being the essence of their identity. Since I'm based in Oakland, the impending departure of the A's (and that of the Raiders before them) has been top of mind, and it was fascinating to think about how Vegas is not only infusing itself with multiple pro sports teams, but simultaneously deepening the sense of community among its residents. It sounds like the timing of the horrific mass shooting there brought the community together even more; an article linked within talks about the powerful moment before the team's first-ever game where players walked onto the ice with local first responders; it sounds like this really cemented the team in the hearts of the community. I was heartened by this aspect of the analysis of the team, since it was another data point showing the importance of camaraderie, social connection, and shared identity and belonging for social and emotional well-being. Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General, would probably agree! Separate but related, I also found out today that Michael Jordan is selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets. I didn't know he owned them; my last engagement with the NBA was truly when Jordan played for the Bulls and the only Hornets player I knew was Muggsy Bogues. So you could say I'm an excellent fan.
Third
At some point, I might end up writing a SemperViernes op-ed featuring my predictions for the higher education industry, but for now, I'll share a couple other people's writings on various facets of the question, "what should be done about education for future students?". This is a distinct question from the one featured at this newsletter's masthead; here instead I'm referring to debates about the relative university admissions benefits of parents in the U.K. and U.S. choosing public or private high schools for their kids, the utility of a college degree, and the intellectual curb appeal of alternatives like the Swiss apprenticeship system (think vocational training, but more mainstream). All of these articles were interesting to me. Some people I speak with feel strongly that a college degree isn't necessary to acquire financial stability and even accumulate wealth; it's technically not, I agree—but I do think that social change is often slow, and my advising style attempts to be at once future-minded and also incredibly (obnoxiously) cautious and risk-averse. So, I'm not telling students to forego four-year college anytime soon. I still think that a student (and their family) who chooses a four-year degree leaves themselves with more options on the table than one who beta-tests the no-degree, skill-development option. The exception to this would be students who, from the start, clearly prefer repairing and modding cars, building and installing plumbing and electrical systems, engaging in physical construction work, mastering their craft in the creative and performing arts, pursuing professional athletics, or learning bunches and bunches of coding skills on their own in order to be marketable to tech companies (as long as this last group somehow finds a way to not engineer themselves out of a job). In working with students with the above interests, I would certainly facilitate a more complex conversation about their future options, and would express less concern about the risks of foregoing a four-year degree. Even still, I'd express my characteristic hesitation around risk-taking, and would encourage the student to err on the side of caution and choose a four-year degree that develops deep [and perhaps seemingly unnecessary] pertinent technical knowledge in order to ensure their versatility and marketability down the road. They can still always do what they dream of doing along the way and also after college, and then if they change their mind away from their passion, they're not back at the beginning with no credentials in their new chosen field. Or, go for it! Everyone is different.
