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Meet Jorden Demerritte
Iceland 2024 – TGP Scholarship
Miami Dade College
Architecture
Graduation Year: 2025
“Interacting with global citizens integrates one into the seams of society, and makes you more empathetic towards cultural differences.”
About Jorden
My name is Jorden Demerritte, and I am an architecture student at Miami Dade College. My interest in The Green Program in Iceland during the middle of December was in discovering the complexities of another culture through their attitudes to the climate. I am deeply interested in increasing biodiversity within cities and reducing the emissions related to transportation costs by organizing cities better.
When I was awarded a scholarship by The Green Program, I felt largely relieved. After waves of anxiety given the cost of the trip, the scholarship helped cover for my flights which was the remaining portion of the expenses.
Takeaways and Learning Moments
Surprisingly, I was walking into the program blind. Dazed by acquiring the necessary materials and scrambling for finals, I found myself focused on preparing for the cold. Given my few expectations for the trip, I went along with the flow in terms of accommodating my body to the changing time zones and temperature, along with going on hikes and sitting through lessons. I was always pleasantly surprised by the experiences I encountered and hope to visit Iceland again.
For underrepresented students who lacked access to traveling from a young age, the experience of going abroad is enriching. Interacting with global citizens integrates one into the seams of society, and makes you more empathetic towards cultural differences. When going abroad, or traveling in general, one realizes the direct impact of the environment (geographical or cultural) on cuisine, attitudes, and health.
This program gave me a deeper understanding of my simple human needs. Being on the nature walks, and spending hours off of my phone or laptop allowed me the space to gain an appreciation for my simplicity. Being able to distill my authenticity without the frills of daily life was a great experience.
The first hike up the mountain was breathtaking. In the midst of the moonlight the snow shone and glistened brightly. I found solace amongst the cold wintry air and in concentrating on my careful steps. I enjoyed this indirect educational moment, as we learned through Dan and Jillian the correct tools to use, the sources of geothermal water, and the best method of breathing to not tire oneself out. Learning through activity, grounded me in the experience one can only gain by doing it.
Capstone Project
Our Capstone Project entailed providing educational curriculum about STEM and sustainability to students within a Philadelphia county. The program’s title goes by “stem-education,” and is rooted in retrofitting traditional learning given the inclination for students to perform and learn best with hands-on activities.
The project was birthed from my team member Kayland, and her direct experiences working with youth in Philadelphia in similar conditions. We planned for an expansion to other locations based on the capacity to share applicable knowledge to future generations to alleviate the most pressing climate concerns.
Throughout the project, there were normal bumps in the road related to clarifying our project and I found we were able to present a clean and professional presentation.
Jorden’s advice for new GREENies:
My singular advice would be to be curious and ask questions. There are no barriers to the conversation topics to bring up, and although you may be intimidated remember at some point everybody there has once been in your shoes.
To Those That Made My Scholarship Possible…
Thank you for your generosity. There aren’t enough words to express my appreciation, and my words would not do justice. This made it possible to travel abroad for the first time, and utilize the low costs of European airfare to visit my friend. I will cherish the memories, and cannot wait to process all of the film photographs I took.