@ Our Best
Ohio Retreat, Advisor, Inspire UI&U Undergraduate Learner
When Lisa Schnapp needs peace and solitude she looks no further than her favorite classroom.
The UI&U undergraduate will earn her bachelor’s degree with a major in environmental studies in a few weeks, but for the past three years, she has looked forward to working with her adjunct, Mary Lu Lageman, at Grailville, a retreat located in the rolling hills east of Cincinnati. “It is so wonderful here,” says Lisa, as she sat in Grailville’s coffeehouse alongside Lageman, as they reviewed Lisa’s last assignment.
Lisa, who works as the accounts receivable specialist in UI&U’s business office in Cincinnati, enrolled in UI&U’s undergraduate program about four years ago. Since then, she has worked with Mary Lu on a regular basis in courses including permaculture gardening, agriculture sustainability, and ecology and the food system. “Together, we create courses and a learning agreement,” says Mary Lu. “As our course grows we get more and more great ideas.”
“For an adult learner, this is the place to be,” says Lisa. In addition to working at UI&U fulltime, she is also the mother of two girls now in college, and does the accounting work for her husband’s auto repair business.
Mary Lu worked around Lisa’s busy schedule so that she could fulfill her lifelong dream of earning her BA in environmental studies.
For her sustainability course project, Lisa created an environmental sustainability link on the UI&U Web site that offers ways to make UI&U – and our world – more environmentally sound. “There are so many little things we can do to make a big difference,” says Lisa, who never shies away from chance to educate a fellow employee about conservation. In fact, folks in the Cincinnati Center know sipping from a Styrofoam cup can get you an earful from Lisa. “I have a sense of humor about it,” says Lisa, “But I’m going to talk to people – let them know that they can do their part (for a better environment).”
Mary Lu, who worked for the Environmental Protection Agency before coming to Grailville as a coordinator in the 1980s, says Lisa’s enthusiasm was paramount to her success in the program. “You can’t force a learner. They have to want to do the work. Lisa was determined – she went after the information and had a vision.”
After earning her degree, Lisa plans to take some much needed time off from studies to concentrate on her family and her work at UI&U. But she says, in the future, she envisions herself getting involved in grassroots environmental causes – and quite possibly returning to UI&U again as a learner – this time for her master’s degree.
To make a change in our environment for the better, say both Mary Lu and Lisa, we must first change how we do things as individuals. “We must stop looking outside for the cause of the problems and look within,” says Mary Lu. “Only when we change our personal habits, will we live on a healthier planet.”
“It has to start small, from the grassroots,” agrees Lisa, who points out that, although she drives an SUV, she keeps it maintained so that it is fuel efficient. “We can’t all go out and buy a hybrid, and we don’t have to,” she says.
Lisa has had an enthusiastic response from the UI&U community about her Web site, and is hoping to make it a regular feature. “In your education, you get what you give,” says Lisa. “And I am always looking for ways to give.”
For more information about Grailville, including upcoming retreats and programs visit www.grailville.org.