“I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own.” ― Chaim Potok
In the stressful, busy environment of Carnegie Mellon, it is easy to get caught up in the rat race of achieving the perfect GPA, landing the perfect internship or being the perfect candidate for a job. However, one trip changed everything for Amalia Martinez, a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major from Pleasanton, California.
Amalia, who has always been interested in travelling and has also been to Japan, came across the opportunity to visit Iceland on the Green Program, a program that studied sustainability and renewable energy in Iceland, through an email sent out by CIT. “I was actually looking up different places to study abroad, and how I wanted to go to Iceland, and a friend mentioned an email sent out (about a program there)”. Choosing to go was an easy choice for Amalia, who is interested in renewable energy and had always wanted to go to Iceland.
As a part of the program, Amalia got the opportunity to visit the Reykjavik University, where she attended lectures on hydroelectric and geothermal energy. She also attended lectures on energy economics and on the history of Iceland. She also had the opportunity to visit the first hydroelectric power plant in Iceland, as well as a geothermal electric plant to see how what she was learning was applied in actuality.
While the lectures and the exposure in the field got Amalia interested, it was experiencing Iceland that made her describe the trip as a “life changing experience” and the “best experience of my life”. The environment, scenery, “shrubbery” was significantly different to what Amalia was used to seeing, and seeing nature stripped to its basics, with mountains surrounded by moss and volcanic ash everywhere made Amalia see things differently. Iceland was a “completely different world”.
Amalia specifically remembers two instances that stood out for her during her trip. The first is the time that her group went snorkeling between two glaciers in 2 degree Celsius temperature. Unlike other snorkeling experiences, Iceland had something different to offer. There was no life under the water, it was just “pristine blue” and “you (could) look forever”. “The minute I took my head out of the water, the first thing I (saw) was snow capped beautiful mountains…every single thing made me think I am in this beautiful place and (I should) appreciate and be mindful of the beauty around”. The second instance that stood out for Amalia was the eight hour hike her group took on one of the ten days of the trip. Climbing the mountain, Amalia felt like “OMG, I am about to die, if I slipped my food, I would die”. While this would paralyze many, and most would stop climbing, Amalia continued. And by the time the got near the end, Amalia knew pushing through had been worth it. “The view…we just took 30 minute quite time…looking out into the world after you had hiked (for) so long…just looking at everything…it was a fantastic view”. The trip that had made Amalia worry about mortality turned into what she described as “exciting and amazing”.
However, it was not just the beauty that made Amalia’s trip memorable. On the trip, her group worked on a project and because of Ireland, Amalia realized the importance of it and hopes to make it turn into a reality. The Capstone project guidelines were simple: create something you are passionate about. Amalia’s group created a basis for a club that they are now trying to start. The club would teach the younger generation about sustainability and being more conscious about the earth and “how what we are doing now affects the future and the current day and lives”.
Amalia had heard about how beautiful Iceland was, and she can’t help but agree with the assessment. The beauty of the simplistic nature showed Amalia the importance of the environment and working towards finding alternate sources of energy to help protect the beauty. In fact, Amalia plans to pursue a career in renewable energy, which she feels is “something the world needs to focus on because (there is) only so much we can do to the world, we need energy that can last forever and viable things that work and that we can rely on. I want to work on that. (We) only have the earth for so long and (we are) using all its resources and destroying it”
While Amalia recommends a trip to Iceland to everyone, she currently keeps herself busy with her classes, SWE and Carnival for which she is the Assistant Head of Operations. The little time she has remaining is spent on obsessing over Bill Nye, who she wishes to be someday. And Amalia is not quite done with travelling. When asked where she would want to go, “Antarctica” is the first answer. She then adds “South America, Africa and the rest. Everywhere! Every part of the world!”
Although Amalia’s travels might have to wait till she gets another opportunity, the peace of Iceland has stirred a passion in her to achieve her goals. The silence of nature awakened an enthusiasm about protecting the environment, renewable energy and travelling and experiencing different parts of the world. No amount of teaching would have had the power to have the impact the silence and beauty of nature did, and with the new passion, Amalia is sure to achieve each of those goals. In five years, we will undoubtedly meet an Amalia Martinez who has been to every continent, and is planning her visit to Antarctica!