Summit; Month 1- Taylor Smith

     My first month living in the Summit house has been great. All the hard work I put into getting this house has finally paid off. Having a kitchen and my own room makes Summit so much nicer than the dorm was. What got my initial interest in Summit was my friend who lived in a house last year, so when the time came for new people to try and get in, I was excited to hear that my friends were already putting together a group. When I found out that I could be living in the first carbon-neutral house on campus, I got even more excited. Not everything has gone according to plan, but things are working themselves out.
      Unfortunately when I got here I found out not much was done to make the house green. In fact, the only thing I could tell had been done was that our light bulbs were changed out. Fortunately Wendy Anderson has told us that she has some money we can use to help make the building greener. We are looking into using the money to purchase more energy/cost efficient appliances, as well as caulking the windows. We have already begun to recycle, and so far we have made three trips to the recycling center.
      Our project, Think Green at Boyd Elementary, is off to a pretty slow start. We have contacted our community leader about helping them with their Think Green group, but the group has not yet started up this year. They are discussing moving their twice a month meetings to Tuesdays instead of Thursdays, but I wish they would make up their minds so we can get started! I am excited to be able to influence kids about a green way of life and I think with what our group brings to theirs Think Green at Boyd Elementary will grow even larger.
      When the time comes that I have to leave Summit, I hope that I will take some things with me. The experience I gain in leadership while living here I will be able to use throughout my life. I also hope to learn some new ways of being green, and influence some kids to adopt a green way of life. I want to establish ties with community leaders and businesses that are green in Springfield, and I think that can be done by organizing field trips.
      Overall my Summit experience so far has been a pleasant one. I have had a lot of fun settling in, showing friends the house, cooking food in the kitchen, and not having to pay for each load of laundry. I just wish the project could have been started by now.