Oregon Direct Action

This weekend, I spent most of my days at a technical training, put on by Green Empowerment at PSU. The training was divided up into 3 sections: 6-9 PM on Friday, 9-5 PM on Saturday, and 9-5 PM on Sunday. Most of the time was spent in a classroom where we learned about specifics of solar and wind electricity generation and using these things to pump water. Four times throughout the sessions, we would break from a classroom format for hands on time, where we got to work with and assemble the systems we were learning about.

For this reflection, I will start with the things I didn’t like, and then end with the things I did like. For me, having not been in a class setting in awhile, the 8 hour blocks on Saturday and Sunday were difficult for me at times. I would have preferred a different division of time (perhaps a session across multiple weekends). Also, I felt like the teaching sessions got bogged down in details at times. Finally, I wish that we could have spent more time talking about interacting with the people we’re helping–something that both Michel and Jason agreed occupied 90% of time spent when working on a project (be it electrification, water pumping, or otherwise). However, given that this was a technical training session, I was not too bothered by the technical focus.

Things I liked: While I said that I felt that sometimes the session got bogged down in too many details, for the most part I appreciated the in-depth approach to teaching us about the technical side of such a project. The book of slides they gave us will serve as a good reminder of all of the lessons we learned, and I look forward to having it when I design and implement a project. I also very much enjoyed the hands-on sessions, where I got to work with a voltmeter, solar-panels, a wind-turbine, and ask informed people all of the questions that came to me, both practical and theoretical. I’m glad that I got to do this electrical work now in a friendly, no-pressure environment full of people who know what’s up, because it’d be a lot harder (and potentially very costly) to have to pick this stuff up in the field. Finally, I enjoyed the chance to meet and spend time with a wide variety of intelligent, pleasant, and motivated people. Almost everyone there had a project they were working on. I got to chat with them and exchange ideas. I just regret that I didn’t get anyone’s contact information, because I feel that there were a lot of potential partners there.

In conclusion, though the format was hard on me, the experience was definitely positive. I’m glad I have the skills and knowledge that I do now, and I feel that they will be very helpful to me in the future.