Jon's Sustainability Courses
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Hello, my name is Jonathan Wells. I am an architecture student at Cornell University, and here's my story:
I grew on the south side of Chicago as the youngest of three with an ever changing climate. Although I didn't have much, my mother cared deeply for mine and my brother's wellbeing and education. She died when I was six, after which one of my brothers and I were sent to live with my father, who was neglectful and often left us to fend for ourselves. I worked hard, studying day in and day out to earn good grades, having graduated elementary school and high school with perfect A grades every semester, as well as graduating high school fourth in my class with a GPA of 4.2 .
In elementary school I developed an interest in Japan from watching cartoons, which grew into a passion for studying the language and culminated into me working as an animal interpreter at the John G Shedd Aquarium my senior year of high school, interpreting to Japanese and English guests alike.
With the help and generosity of many supportive adults, I achieved many things during my time in high school:
> The summers of 2015 and 2016 I had the pleasure of working as a tutor for children ranging from nine to twelve years old for the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA).
This was made possible by Benjamin Cosgrove, who believed that I could learn a lot from educating others.
> The summer of 2017 I worked at the Illinois Institute of Technology for the iPro Program as part of a team of 5 university students tasked with creating a model representative of Chicago's shifting population statistics from the 1920's to the 2010's.
This experience was made possible by William Penn, an entrepreneur in residence at IIT. He believed that education had no time limit, and that I had the motivation and the capability to work with scholars at a higher stage of education. My team happened to coincidentally be comprised solely of architecture students. This is where I discovered my interest in the field.
> The spring of 2019 I had the pleasure of meeting with former mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, after having been commissioned to paint a bench in 2018 as a gift from After School Matters--a program that employs youth from the Chicagoland area--for a substantial donation to the organization.
This was made possible from the kindness of After School Matters.
> The morning of my high school Luncheon I appeared as a guest on the Chicago WGN morning radio where I spoke about the importance of shifting the narrative of people of color and youth on the south side of Chicago, and the impact that support can have on people and communities.
This was made possible from the kindness of Greg Dillinger, AAR's one of a kind leader in corporate and public affairs. Mr. Dillinger--or "G-Man"-- has always been passionate about engagement and uplifting voices. I had the pleasure of interning under G-Man during my junior year of high school.
> I had the fortune of being selected as the keystone speaker for the 2019 Perspectives Network Gala.
This was made possible by Diana Shulla-Cose, as well as Kim Day, two amazing women with a love for helping kids receive an outstanding education in social-emotional learning--the founders of the Perspectives Charter School Network. Their belief that everyone deserves a chance, and that I was capable of being a voice for my school is all it took for them to take a chance on me, one that I will always be grateful for.
> The winter of 2019 I became a Wentcher scholarship recipient, being one of the 90 scholars chosen from over 6,000 applicants in the greater Chicago area, awarded an amount of $10,000 yearly to finance my education.
This was made possible by the outstanding love and support of my aunt, Sharon D. Lawson, as well as Chicago Scholars, an organization with a drive for helping underrepresented youth from the Chicagoland area. An organization I joined my junior year of high school for college application assistance, with the help of my high school counselor Mrs. Janeé Choice.
>The summer prior to my senior year of high school I departed to Uganda, an opportunity awarded to me from my high school due to outstanding academic achievement, and an experience facilitated by the Global Livingston Institute (GLI). In Uganda we held conversations in Kampala, the slums of Katanga, Rwanda, and even a remote island on Lake Bunyonyi about the danger of one sided narratives and the importance of the cross-cultural communication of experiences.
This tremendous experience was made possible by Abby Pucker, from the Pritzker-Pucker Foundation. Abby, the generous person that she is, funded the experience for the five scholars selected from my high school, and continues to be a force for positivity and change in the world. And Thomas Karrel, the director of operations for the Global Livingston Institute in East Africa. An absolutely stunning individual, passionate about bringing positive change to East Africa by uplifting the voices of the people there.
> During my time in Uganda I received the opportunity to discuss the concept of global citizenship and an individual's responsibility to self actualization--and myself!-- for Kampala, Uganda via podcast. This was also made possible by Thomas Karrel, who believed that I could bring something valuable to Uganda by sharing my narrative and be an agent for change, as well as a global citizen. This granted me the opportunity to assist orphans in Tokyo and Kyoto, having experienced the absence of both parents myself, through the Ashinaga organization based in Japan. Although I had to decline this opportunity to attend a preliminary architecture studio course at Cornell University the summer before my first Fall semester, I received an award from Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack for outstanding academic achievement at the end of the summer session.
> I received the opportunity to work with world-class architects in Chicago the summer of 2019 at HOK, an architecture firm with 24 studios globally. Unfortunately, I had to decline this opportunity to attend a preliminary architecture studio course at Cornell University the summer of 2019. The opportunity, however, remains standing for the future.
This was also made possible by Abby Pucker, who believed, much like William, that education and experiences have no time limit, that I am capable.
Because of people like Benjamin, like William, like G-Man, like Diana and Kim, like Sharon and Janeé, and Abby and Tom, who believed that a hard working Black boy from the south side of Chicago could make a difference, I have had life changing experiences, and am shifting the narrative surrounding people of color from low income communities and disadvantaged backgrounds. I need help funding my next opportunity.
Q: Why do you require funding?
A: Despite my standing offer from HOK, I wanted to take part in a language school or program for the summer of 2020 so that I could possibly earn academic credit towards my Japanese minor at a time when architecture wouldn't be at the forefront of my priorities. Arguably one of the more competitive programs I applied to was The Green Program . The Green Program is an experiential education program with a focus on environmentalism and sustainable development. It offers programs to create a positive environmental impact in various communities across the globe through design and the built environment. I happened to be one of the 20 scholars selected globally to attend a program on disaster mitigation and nuclear to renewable transitions, based in Fukushima, Japan this summer. The program offers academic credit from the Fukushima College National Institute of Technology in renewable energy and disaster rehabilitation and nuclear safety decommissioning. There will be scholars from all over the world, from various universities and majors pertinent to engineering, architecture, design, and sustainability. You can read about the program, as well as others in this document.
Q: What do you hope to gain from participating in this program?
A: During my time abroad, I would like to gain a more well rounded understanding of Japanese culture as it pertains to cultures, experiences, and people I’ve met previously (in Uganda/Rwanda/USA states, etc.). I would also like to experience what Japan is like socially, since I have studied the language since childhood and have always dreamed of someday working there, as well as become more fluent in Japanese. In the future I would like to be a language interpreter in Japan for an organization or architecture firm that works to help poor or underprivileged communities and the environment, both in Japan and abroad. I want to make an impact by aiding the current global environmental crisis through sustainable design and having open discussions about the effects of pollution and unsustainable practices, such as monoculture farming (which reduces the amount of water soil can retain) or even the construction of architecture and its failure to provide proper ventilation, heating, and cooling efficiency.
Q: What do you think will be the most difficult part in participating in this program, and how do you intend to navigate these difficulties?
A: I think that experiencing academic and social dynamics, and creating a positive and affirming reconciliation between my expectations of what the country and culture will be like based off of my independent study of it (and other abroad experiences) and what it actually is will be the most difficult part of my abroad experience. Being able to properly articulate what studying sustainability through the co-mingling of my architecture knowledge and the knowledge of scholars of various other studies while in Japan will be like will be interesting because I tend to think that labels and expectations are not things that I particularly establish or associate between people and ideas, since they can be harmful and oftentimes detrimental to understanding others. I know that realizing and acknowledging my implicit expectations, and how they measure up to the reality of my experience will be a large part of my self actualization and growth in Japan. I find the prospect of my introspection to be exciting, especially since it will be rooted in a social and cultural understanding of others and the country that I am not yet aware of. I believe that my navigation through these experiences, through my effort to understand myself and others, and to understand why being there has always been my dream on a more intimate and conscious level, will be a pedagogical process between myself and the lessons I take away from being wrong about the things that I expect, since I believe there will never be a singular appropriate response to a dynamic and changing introspection.
Q: What will the $6,500 of funding that you are requesting go towards?
A: The program that I am requesting funding for costs $4,800 for the summer. This does not include round trip flight tickets ($1,000 minimum), as well as personal accommodations such as food and lodging in Tokyo.
If you believe that a lack of financial resources should not be a prohibiting factor in the opportunities that can be afforded to disadvantaged scholars such as myself, I ask that you make a donation. Any amount donated counts.
I grew on the south side of Chicago as the youngest of three with an ever changing climate. Although I didn't have much, my mother cared deeply for mine and my brother's wellbeing and education. She died when I was six, after which one of my brothers and I were sent to live with my father, who was neglectful and often left us to fend for ourselves. I worked hard, studying day in and day out to earn good grades, having graduated elementary school and high school with perfect A grades every semester, as well as graduating high school fourth in my class with a GPA of 4.2 .
In elementary school I developed an interest in Japan from watching cartoons, which grew into a passion for studying the language and culminated into me working as an animal interpreter at the John G Shedd Aquarium my senior year of high school, interpreting to Japanese and English guests alike.
With the help and generosity of many supportive adults, I achieved many things during my time in high school:
> The summers of 2015 and 2016 I had the pleasure of working as a tutor for children ranging from nine to twelve years old for the Illinois Math and Science Academy (IMSA).
This was made possible by Benjamin Cosgrove, who believed that I could learn a lot from educating others.
> The summer of 2017 I worked at the Illinois Institute of Technology for the iPro Program as part of a team of 5 university students tasked with creating a model representative of Chicago's shifting population statistics from the 1920's to the 2010's.
This experience was made possible by William Penn, an entrepreneur in residence at IIT. He believed that education had no time limit, and that I had the motivation and the capability to work with scholars at a higher stage of education. My team happened to coincidentally be comprised solely of architecture students. This is where I discovered my interest in the field.
> The spring of 2019 I had the pleasure of meeting with former mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, after having been commissioned to paint a bench in 2018 as a gift from After School Matters--a program that employs youth from the Chicagoland area--for a substantial donation to the organization.
This was made possible from the kindness of After School Matters.
> The morning of my high school Luncheon I appeared as a guest on the Chicago WGN morning radio where I spoke about the importance of shifting the narrative of people of color and youth on the south side of Chicago, and the impact that support can have on people and communities.
This was made possible from the kindness of Greg Dillinger, AAR's one of a kind leader in corporate and public affairs. Mr. Dillinger--or "G-Man"-- has always been passionate about engagement and uplifting voices. I had the pleasure of interning under G-Man during my junior year of high school.
> I had the fortune of being selected as the keystone speaker for the 2019 Perspectives Network Gala.
This was made possible by Diana Shulla-Cose, as well as Kim Day, two amazing women with a love for helping kids receive an outstanding education in social-emotional learning--the founders of the Perspectives Charter School Network. Their belief that everyone deserves a chance, and that I was capable of being a voice for my school is all it took for them to take a chance on me, one that I will always be grateful for.
> The winter of 2019 I became a Wentcher scholarship recipient, being one of the 90 scholars chosen from over 6,000 applicants in the greater Chicago area, awarded an amount of $10,000 yearly to finance my education.
This was made possible by the outstanding love and support of my aunt, Sharon D. Lawson, as well as Chicago Scholars, an organization with a drive for helping underrepresented youth from the Chicagoland area. An organization I joined my junior year of high school for college application assistance, with the help of my high school counselor Mrs. Janeé Choice.
>The summer prior to my senior year of high school I departed to Uganda, an opportunity awarded to me from my high school due to outstanding academic achievement, and an experience facilitated by the Global Livingston Institute (GLI). In Uganda we held conversations in Kampala, the slums of Katanga, Rwanda, and even a remote island on Lake Bunyonyi about the danger of one sided narratives and the importance of the cross-cultural communication of experiences.
This tremendous experience was made possible by Abby Pucker, from the Pritzker-Pucker Foundation. Abby, the generous person that she is, funded the experience for the five scholars selected from my high school, and continues to be a force for positivity and change in the world. And Thomas Karrel, the director of operations for the Global Livingston Institute in East Africa. An absolutely stunning individual, passionate about bringing positive change to East Africa by uplifting the voices of the people there.
> During my time in Uganda I received the opportunity to discuss the concept of global citizenship and an individual's responsibility to self actualization--and myself!-- for Kampala, Uganda via podcast. This was also made possible by Thomas Karrel, who believed that I could bring something valuable to Uganda by sharing my narrative and be an agent for change, as well as a global citizen. This granted me the opportunity to assist orphans in Tokyo and Kyoto, having experienced the absence of both parents myself, through the Ashinaga organization based in Japan. Although I had to decline this opportunity to attend a preliminary architecture studio course at Cornell University the summer before my first Fall semester, I received an award from Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack for outstanding academic achievement at the end of the summer session.
> I received the opportunity to work with world-class architects in Chicago the summer of 2019 at HOK, an architecture firm with 24 studios globally. Unfortunately, I had to decline this opportunity to attend a preliminary architecture studio course at Cornell University the summer of 2019. The opportunity, however, remains standing for the future.
This was also made possible by Abby Pucker, who believed, much like William, that education and experiences have no time limit, that I am capable.
Because of people like Benjamin, like William, like G-Man, like Diana and Kim, like Sharon and Janeé, and Abby and Tom, who believed that a hard working Black boy from the south side of Chicago could make a difference, I have had life changing experiences, and am shifting the narrative surrounding people of color from low income communities and disadvantaged backgrounds. I need help funding my next opportunity.
Q: Why do you require funding?
A: Despite my standing offer from HOK, I wanted to take part in a language school or program for the summer of 2020 so that I could possibly earn academic credit towards my Japanese minor at a time when architecture wouldn't be at the forefront of my priorities. Arguably one of the more competitive programs I applied to was The Green Program . The Green Program is an experiential education program with a focus on environmentalism and sustainable development. It offers programs to create a positive environmental impact in various communities across the globe through design and the built environment. I happened to be one of the 20 scholars selected globally to attend a program on disaster mitigation and nuclear to renewable transitions, based in Fukushima, Japan this summer. The program offers academic credit from the Fukushima College National Institute of Technology in renewable energy and disaster rehabilitation and nuclear safety decommissioning. There will be scholars from all over the world, from various universities and majors pertinent to engineering, architecture, design, and sustainability. You can read about the program, as well as others in this document.
Q: What do you hope to gain from participating in this program?
A: During my time abroad, I would like to gain a more well rounded understanding of Japanese culture as it pertains to cultures, experiences, and people I’ve met previously (in Uganda/Rwanda/USA states, etc.). I would also like to experience what Japan is like socially, since I have studied the language since childhood and have always dreamed of someday working there, as well as become more fluent in Japanese. In the future I would like to be a language interpreter in Japan for an organization or architecture firm that works to help poor or underprivileged communities and the environment, both in Japan and abroad. I want to make an impact by aiding the current global environmental crisis through sustainable design and having open discussions about the effects of pollution and unsustainable practices, such as monoculture farming (which reduces the amount of water soil can retain) or even the construction of architecture and its failure to provide proper ventilation, heating, and cooling efficiency.
Q: What do you think will be the most difficult part in participating in this program, and how do you intend to navigate these difficulties?
A: I think that experiencing academic and social dynamics, and creating a positive and affirming reconciliation between my expectations of what the country and culture will be like based off of my independent study of it (and other abroad experiences) and what it actually is will be the most difficult part of my abroad experience. Being able to properly articulate what studying sustainability through the co-mingling of my architecture knowledge and the knowledge of scholars of various other studies while in Japan will be like will be interesting because I tend to think that labels and expectations are not things that I particularly establish or associate between people and ideas, since they can be harmful and oftentimes detrimental to understanding others. I know that realizing and acknowledging my implicit expectations, and how they measure up to the reality of my experience will be a large part of my self actualization and growth in Japan. I find the prospect of my introspection to be exciting, especially since it will be rooted in a social and cultural understanding of others and the country that I am not yet aware of. I believe that my navigation through these experiences, through my effort to understand myself and others, and to understand why being there has always been my dream on a more intimate and conscious level, will be a pedagogical process between myself and the lessons I take away from being wrong about the things that I expect, since I believe there will never be a singular appropriate response to a dynamic and changing introspection.
Q: What will the $6,500 of funding that you are requesting go towards?
A: The program that I am requesting funding for costs $4,800 for the summer. This does not include round trip flight tickets ($1,000 minimum), as well as personal accommodations such as food and lodging in Tokyo.
If you believe that a lack of financial resources should not be a prohibiting factor in the opportunities that can be afforded to disadvantaged scholars such as myself, I ask that you make a donation. Any amount donated counts.
Organizer
Jonathan Wells
Organizer
Chicago, IL