Victoria Owens Blog 1D.C. Trip! :)

Victoria Owens, Freshmen, Houston East End Greenbelt GreenSchools! Green Ambassador and STEAM Lab Proctor, The Green Institute- Furr High School

At the 2015 Environmental Justice Conference, we spoke about the work we do in Houston, Texas and our roles as advocates in environmental justice. We were ecstatic to have the ability to share our voices, inspire others, and learn about the way professionals fight for the health of every single organism on our planet. It was very exciting to network with and intrigue professionals in our nation’s capital! It is hard to believe all of the kind and supportive words we hear from professionals here. These people have been doing this for 20 or 30 years, and say to us that they never had their “heads on this straight or focused” when they were our age! :)

Washington, D.C. is definitely not for the weak at heart, much less the weak at all. Coming to our nation’s capital from Houston, Texas means losing two underappreciated luxuries: good ol’ southern hospitality and the somewhat slow paced lifestyle. So we have been overwhelming people with smiles, hugs and love! :)

When we walk from our hotel to the subway station, the residents are running and shoving their way through the town to arrive at the bus stop on time. There is such a big rush to get somewhere, and the general rule or “D.C. etiquette” is that you stand on the right side if you aren’t rushing to get somewhere. Otherwise you would probably get hurt by someone who is rushing and wants you out of their way. Exiting the Rosslyn stop to go to our hotel, there is an extremely long escalator (which we’ve learned to run up, as to not waste ten minutes standing while a machine moves us) and by the time you get to the top, your thighs burn as if you just finished a 30-minute workout. After leaving the train, we walk the rest of the way to the building and settle in for the night.

Right now, I am in Washington, D.C., and it is only possible because of the work we put in, along with help from our partners (such as the U.S. Forest Service, Project Learning Tree and Friends of the Forests and Grasslands in Texas -Latino Legacy), our principal (Dr. Bertie Simmons), our HISD school board member (Juliet Stipeche), and our parents who put their trust in Mr. Elizondo and Mr. Salazar, and Dr. Clipson to keep us safe on this trip! Thanks to all of these amazing people, we came from Houston, TX to our nation’s capital, and we are teaching people about the work that we do in our community in order to bring justice to our people and our planet.