There are seasons in life when change is inevitable, and infrequently, these moments propel private transformation.
For me, one such second was the passing of my mom in 2021. Within the wake of this loss, I made a decision to return to high school to pursue an Govt MBA with a focus in sustainability. It was the proper program. Tuesday night time courses that match with my household’s schedule, an in-person choice at a faith-based college, and a two-year dedication. Nevertheless, all of that modified after my summer time programs.
My focus required me to take Rules of Sustainability and Superior Sustainability Examine in New England. Though, after finishing these programs, I discovered myself unable to shut this chapter of my studying journey.
Each programs ran in parallel. Rules of Sustainability reviewed the historical past of sustainability and dug into every main follow space: renewable vitality, inexperienced buildings, meals methods, and extra. The superior examine course utilized the e book Modifications within the Land by William Cronan, together with curated content material and a week-long group journey expertise led by the founding director of the Institute for Sustainable Observe at Lipscomb College.
The content material, construction, and neighborhood have been every thing I wanted, though I got here in with a little bit of a bonus in a single follow space: meals methods. My dad is a farmer, and I’ve been promoting produce at farmers’ markets throughout Tennessee since earlier than I can keep in mind, however there’s all the time extra to study.
The journey to New England was nothing in need of life-changing. We began with a voyage to offer homage to one of many authentic sustainability champions, Henry David Thoreau. Like a dream, we have been greeted by an area historian dressed and in character — a tremendous expertise! After our tour, we ventured down the trail Thoreau probably meandered and took a fast dip in Walden Pond.
Because the week continued, the classroom got here to life as we trekked throughout Vermont and New Hampshire with many hands-on studying experiences. We visited cutting-edge recycling and compost facilities, discovered sustainable farming strategies, toured zero-energy houses, frolicked in a contemporary design college, met with metropolis management, toured a district heating and cooling plant, and even participated in a neighborhood workday at a sustainable dwelling neighborhood, full with composting bathrooms. (In case you’re curious, they don’t scent!)
The final day of our journey was all about inexperienced buildings, probably the most related and impactful to my position at Cisco, the place I lead options and product adoption inside buyer success for hybrid work, together with serving to our clients use our know-how to show their buildings into sensible areas. I used to be blown away by one web site go to’s sophistication and innovation, and it was my first time seeing a geothermal system with radiant heating and cooling. After which, once we thought it couldn’t get any higher, the journey concluded in one of the best ways. In Boston, we toured the town’s most sustainable constructing. We met the property’s Vice President of Sustainability — an business thought chief — and a number of other structure subject material specialists. We discovered about photo voltaic PV, rainwater harvesting, inexperienced roofs, biophilic dwelling partitions, and machine rooms from the wonderful staff answerable for designing and sustaining the buildings.
As good because the stops have been, the van rides with my classmates have been one of the best conversations on the journey. We debriefed, shared analysis, and even geeked out in our respective areas of experience — engineers defined the technical points, and non-engineers defined the enterprise and operations. It was the proper mixture of variety for a well-rounded dialogue. I actually have a classmate’s drawing on scrap paper outlining how Nashville Worldwide Airport’s (my house airport) HVAC system makes use of water from an deserted rock quarry.
Shortly after coming back from the journey, I formally declared a double main: MBA & Masters of Sustainability. This semester, I’ve added Water Administration and Inexperienced Buildings to my MBA course load. In a number of months, I’ll take one other journey — to Austin — for my Sustainable Constructing and Building course.
I look ahead to graduating in December and seeing how I can leverage all this studying to assist Cisco do much more for our clients within the sustainability house. I’m tremendous grateful to Cisco’s emphasis on sustainability, the corporate encouraging us to study and develop our careers, and the tutoring reimbursement to make it doable. I couldn’t do it with out my staff for supporting me and carrying the calls when “Audrey had class” for the previous two years. It’s been a life-changing journey that I’m excited to proceed!
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