Sophia Cassam

6/4/19
CEP Reflection Paper
I recently came across some notes from my freshman year at UW that I made in
preparation for sharing my personal story with a church small group in Autumn 2015. Looking
back, I hardly recognize myself! My perspective seemed so limited and my identity laid in things
I don’t think much about at all anymore. My story centered more on my parents than myself, I
talked about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I trailed off with the story of unfortunate
high school relationship I was still obsessing over. Four years later, when I tell people about
myself, I start with college because this is when my own choices became the primary driver of
my story. This essay reflects on several overarching themes of growth during my time at UW,
including my academic interests, professional trajectory, and my relationships.
Academic Interests
I’ve always admired people who seem to have found their “thing,” their specific calling,
their obscure passion. I figured that in college, I too would discover my “thing.” Once I got here I
met several upperclassmen who I saw as intensely passionate and knowledgeable about their
topics, and I figured I’d give myself at least until I got into my major to find my calling. Now at the
end of my time as an undergrad, I still haven't found my “thing,” and it’s ok! Quarter by quarter, I
have, however, managed to narrow down a set of interrelated interests, which have shaped my
CEP focus. At UW I’ve always been excited about CEP + [Something]. At first it was CEP +
Environmental Sustainability when I thought I might double major in Environmental Studies. I
assumed that because I care about the environment and being outdoorsy is an important part of
my identity, studying environmental sustainability should be my academic focus. However, I
realized that my academics and personal passions don’t necessarily have to be the same, and
that I could easily become burned out on my subject if my work and my play were in the same
field. Then, it was CEP + GIS when I decided to minor in Geography. I was fascinated by the
power of GIS as a tool for data analysis and decision making, and I enjoyed developing a hard
skill that created a digital end product. I’m glad I learned about GIS because I know what it’s
capable of, but I’ve come to learn that GIS work is mostly done by GIS specialist. Knowing that I
don’t want to specialize in GIS, I found my interests shifting. CEP + Public Policy was my next
pairing after I took several courses with the Evans School. Studying public policy gave me a
better understanding of how the world works and for how policy affects people’s everyday lives.
This year it was CEP + Community Development as I started to feel strong at my job as an
Assistant Resident Director (ARD) with UW Housing and Food Services Residential Life
(ResLife) where my primary job is to build community in the on-campus residence halls. I
enjoyed the work, was good at it, and started thinking more about how my ARD skills could
connect to my studies in CEP.
Career Trajectory
My academic and work experiences during college have contributed to my professional
development. As a kitchen manager for Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp I learned how to
manage a team, work to meet multiple deadlines daily, improvise on the spot and under
pressure, and to mediate conflict between staff members. I also learned that part of good
leadership is sometimes taking responsibility for your team’s mistakes and not shifting the blame
on anyone else. During my time as an RA with ResLife I became more comfortable with
confrontation and I demonstrated integrity in my work even when nobody was watching. In this
position I had the freedom to do my work on my own time, which helped me with my task
management skills. As an ARD (ARD) for ResLife I learned to mentor community leaders,
create buy-in to an organization, and I planned events for thousands of residents of on-campus
student housing. Through the LCY project in CEP 460 I learned about what it is like to work as a
consultant for a client by contributing to writing a scope of work, communicating with our project
lead at the City of Bellevue, and contributing to the deliverable. I also was the student writer for
our report, which gave me the opportunity to see what goes into creating a formal report,
including drafting, editing, working with multiple people remotely, participating in conference
calls, staying on top of deadlines, and report design. As a point in Headlights I practiced
facilitating meetings and managing long-term projects.
My most significant professional development experience was my year-long internship
with the Port of Seattle environmental department at SeaTac airport. I learned about common
practices and policies in the environmental planning field, and had opportunities to become
familiar with the NEPA and SEPA environmental review processes, and LEED certification. I
also learned to interpret technical site maps and drawings for construction projects and wetland
mitigation areas. During the fall and winter I planned and implemented the Port’s most well
attended community tree planting event, and learned to collaborate between multiple
departments. Perhaps the simplest and yet most important thing I learned from my internship
was how to figure out who to ask for help from when I have questions. All of these experiences
prepared me for my interviews with San Juan County and helped me get my upcoming planning
job!
Relationships
During CEP orientation Megan lead a team-building exercise where we all discovered
our team-work personality type, as represented by colors. The exercise is meant to help people
understand how their own personality affects how they work with others. Reds are energetic and
passionate, greens are analytical and give attention to detail, browns are organized and natural
leaders, and blues are relationship oriented peace-seekers. I’ve taken similar tests several
times, and I always turn out to be a blue, through and through. Therefore, it comes as no
surprise to me that the longest section of this essay is my reflection on my relationships with
other people during college.
My relationships with my family (mom, dad and sister) have evolved since I moved out of
their house in Burien and started at UW. At the beginning we experienced some growing pains
as I struggled to find a balance between wanting my independence and still needing to be
supported and cared for. My parents have been saints in navigating that with me. My
relationship with my sister greatly improved after I moved out and went to college since we
didn’t get in each other’s hair all the time anymore. We have learned to appreciate our
differences and value whatever time we get to spend together. The loss of our family pet, a 15
year old black lab, this October brought us closer as well, since we grew up with her and were
very attached. However, we have a new family member, a young chocolate lab, who’s brought
us together in other ways now too!
Upon coming to college I wanted to develop some close relationships with female
friends. In high school I had mostly male friends and I enjoyed being “one of the guys,” but I
longed for a female confidant or two who would understand me in ways that guys cannot. The
first two years at UW, I didn’t really make significant connections with any of the girls I met, and
it wasn’t until I entered CEP that I could say I had female friends I deeply loved and cared for. I
have made a wonderful set of gal-friends in CEP who have shown me what it looks like to
support and stand by each other. I was surprised that the greatest friendships I formed my
senior year were with freshmen. There are three of them (Elle, Lars and Ian) I met through
climbing at Husky Rock, and we cook dinner and rock climb together frequently. Even though
I’m leaving UW and their time here has just started, I want to work to maintain my relationships
with them by getting together when I come back to Seattle and by taking climbing adventures
with them every so often. Working for Residential Life in the dorms as an RA and as an
Assistant Resident Director (ARD) has played a major role in my sense of community at UW.
I’ve been an RA to over 150 students, and have gotten to know around 100 more simply by
working closely with staff members, being around the buildings, and by working with hall
councils. One thing I love most about these relationships is that all the people in Res Life are so
different! The residential communities bring together students with majors, interests,
backgrounds and personalities all over the board, and I’ve made some great friends with people
who I might not have connected with otherwise.
Dating: Here are some stats: I was in 5 dating relationships during my 4 years at UW.
These relationships lasted everywhere from 3 months to 14 months. Eighteen months were
spent in two separate long distance relationships with people in other states. Two were with UW
students. All were with guys younger than me. I am still good friends with 4 out of 5 of them.
From my college dating experiences I have learned about who I am; my strengths and areas for
improvement; my needs, likes and dislikes. Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that other
people’s happiness is not my responsibility--especially not at the cost of my own. Sometimes
boundaries are as important to a relationship as intimacy is. I am currently single for the first
time in a while, and am enjoying spending more time with friends.
I was involved in several Christian faith communities during my time at UW. I was in a
small group through University Presbyterian Church (UPC) where I connected with other
freshman women and could talk about both faith and the challenges of starting college. The
group leader was a super badass UW senior who I looked up to and who inspired me to apply to
work at Yosemite Sierra Summer Camp (YSSC). At YSSC I found a faith community within the
staff, which was made up of Christian students from all over the US. After 2 years of searching, I
finally found a Campus Ministry at UW that felt right and I connected with, called Sojourn. I
learned immensely from the Sojourn staff and got a lot of support from them as well. All 4 years,
I attended UPC, the church I grew up going to, on Sundays with my parents and sister.
Routinely going to church was a way for me to stay closely connected with my family. The
critical thinking skills I developed in my college classes caused me to think about my religious
beliefs more intently, which led me to explore Christianity more objectively with respect to my
personal beliefs, and this actually strengthened my faith. There are many things people say and
do in the name of Christianity that I do not stand by. Sometimes I am hesitant to share my
religious identity because I worry that people will associate me with ideas/beliefs I am actively
against. This is something I have had to wrestle with, especially because I made few Christian
friends at UW.
Up & Coming
Just 9 days after graduation I will begin a job as a planner with San Juan County, based
in Friday Harbor! In my role I will be assisting in long-range planning and community outreach,
managing the vacation rental permitting process, and learning about shoreline management. I
found the position while looking for opportunities in counties I’d like to live in, and when I saw
that San Juan County was looking for an entry-level planner I jumped on the opportunity to
apply to work in the islands. Amazingly, this was the only job I applied to in my job hunt. I
wanted the position so much that I spent many hours preparing for my phone and in-person
interviews--both of which went excellently. I expect that finding friends will take extra effort
because of the age demographics on the island: there are very few long-term residents who are
my age. Islanders are mostly retirees and couples with young families. Since I will no longer
have homework to do, I want to pick up a few new skills: pottery and cheesemaking! I dabbled
in pottery last summer and am eager to get better at it, and I love cheese and I will have easy
access to the raw milk I’ll need to start making my own. I expect to live in the San Juans for at
least 2 years, after which I might seek out a job in a more urban area; though, I might like it so
much out there I’ll choose to stay.
This fall, when my sister started her freshman year at Western Washington University, I
wrote her a letter that included three bits of wisdom from college I wanted to pass down to her.
The first is my simple mantra, “I can do difficult things!” These five words acknowledge that
whatever challenge I’m facing is indeed hard, but that I won’t let the challenge stop me. The
second is the practice of “showing up.” It’s easy to make excuses about why I’m too busy or too
tired to attend an event, go to class, or be there for a friend. When I don’t feel the energy or
desire to do something, “showing up” as a habit gets me out the door. Finally, some of my best
experiences in college have happened because I stepped out of my routine and did something
out of the ordinary daily. Sometimes this looked like walking or biking different routes to familiar
places; other days it meant I sat next to and talked with someone new in a class; or I said yes to
something I typically wouldn’t do. My summer camp job, my involvement in my campus ministry,
and even some of my dearest friendships have been the result of being at an unusual place at
the right time. Extraordinary things don’t come out of this practice every day, but it’s often
enough to keep me believing in the power of the unusual. As I wrap up my time at UW and in
CEP, I will take my mantra of “I can do difficult things,” and the practices of both “showing up”
and “stepping outside routine” with me wherever I go.