THE BASICS:Name & Nickname: Teresa Dunn, TDunnYear/Age: Senior (and First Year Master’s Candidate in SPEA), 21Hometown: Lafayette, INMajor: Environmental Science, Public Affairs; concentrating in Applied Ecology and Sustainable DevelopmentExtracurricular Activities: I’m in Alpha Delta Pi, involved with the Bloomington Community Orchard, EMSDA, and I also love to paint.Dream Job: I’d love to work for a global non-profit or NGO, focusing on developing sustainable agriculture systems in communities around the world.
FAVES:Fruit: Strawberries, for sureQuote: “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon
Local pizza place: MOTHER BEARS, no contestMovie: Oh jeez… I just saw About Time and that was lovely. I’m also a very big superhero movie fan.Weekend hangout: Soma
HCIU: How did you become the founding president of Bloomington Community Orchard (BCO) – IU?
So I got involved (*addicted*) with the Orchard the summer before my Junior year, as an intern. I worked with the Operations team at the site, learning a lot of cool stuff in the field of agroforestry, permaculture, etc. etc. I also did some work with the Governance committee, helping write and develop policy for the organization. Once school started we started talking about how to spread the Orchard’s mission onto campus, get students really involved, and they asked me if I’d like to spearhead that. And they invited me to join the Executive Board. So I was so thrilled to get on board and take on some leadership opportunities with an organization that has truly become a huge part of my life.
HCIU: What exciting things are you looking forward to with BCO-IU? Upcoming events, plans in the works, etc?
So BCO-IU, as I said, is the student “branch” of the larger organization (Bloomington Community Orchard), but we’re also our own independent student organization through IU. We work with the IU administration and other student and campus organizations and find ways we can help grow IU’s “food forest”- a campus community of gardens, orchards, and other plantings-to help make IU’s food system more sustainable and get students more invested, informed and excited about their food. So this semester there’s a few different planting events in the works around campus, as well as some partnerships with different campus organizations. We also go out for Work and Learn Days at the BCO site monthly, and we’re looking into securing some funding to host educational workshops or bring speakers to campus.
HCIU: How else are you involved on campus and in Bloomington?
I’m on the board of the larger Orchard organization as well, so that’s really fun and rewarding. In fact we’re holding our fall event, Cider Fest, this Saturday! I’m also the Recruitment Information Manager for my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. And I just started grad school at SPEA this fall.
HCIU: What has been the hardest thing you’ve done since arriving at IU? Why was it so difficult?
I don’t know if it’s a specific “thing” or event, but managing my time and managing stress are two huge things I still struggle with. Coming into your own in college is hard enough, and then when you start finding stuff you’re super excited about and want to get involved in, it takes a lot of work to make sure you’re managing your time so that you’re doing the best you can in every commitment you take on. That’s also where learning to say “no” comes in- I’m still horrid at that!
HCIU: What is one thing you absolutely cannot live without and why?
My planner. It’s kind of sad, I wish I wasn’t so attached to any material thing that much, but if I lost my planner it would truly be a disaster!
*Title Image Courtesy of Teresa Dunn