The Grass is Greener

There's a reason they call them "Greeners."

Where did you go to college? I'm approaching the end of my undergraduate education at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

No traditional grading policy, no traditional classes, no traditional foods, few traditional social practices (aside from attending a college), no football team, a geoduck for a mascot, lots of people in bare feet, so many people eating vegetarian garlic-heavy foods the school implemented a no-odor policy, independent learning contracts (where we study what we want), few class prerequisites and even fewer right-wing conservatives - Evergreen is packed w/ the unique for lack of a better term. Instead - these people are called Greeners.

I wanna find out exactly what that means - although I have a few pretty good ideas on what it is.  I guess being a Greener is what you are while you're in the process of learning at The Evergreen State College and/or how you think afterward. I often feel it just means wanting to be different and that you either attend, attended or are perceived that you would fit in here. Rather than discuss the effects of Buddhism on Western psychological therapy and its common practices (which is the subject of this class) we got sidetracked. There's a lot to analyze and discuss about the effects of Buddhist belief and its practice relative to Western psychology.

But somehow we're talking about being a Greener and doing all things greener - protesting, questioning social norms, being what they call liberal or progressive and of course fighting for peace. It's been a great opportunity for me to challenge a large group of Greeners on why they do what it is they do when so much of it, especially diffusing their energy, drives me freakin' nuts. We also ended up discussing ways to make a difference in what we believe in.

That seemed to be the concurrent theme - change. I think for some reason most people here either want to change themselves or the world around them. Well there - I may have just driven the first stake through all Greeners - including me.