Terry Tempest Williams gives students ideas for change
Released: October 10, 2007
Left to right: Alison Townsend and Terry Tempest Williams
"It's time for change; to adopt a new code of ethics. Our nation can live differently, and the power lies within ourselves," said Terry Tempest Williams, a naturalist, activist and author.
During her tour with the Wisconsin Book Festival, Williams came to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and spoke with Alison Townsend's Nature Writing class on Tuesday, Oct. 9.
"This is what matters to me, being able to talk to you all," Williams said to the Nature Writing class. In a soft-spoken voice, she asked each student, "What keeps you up at night?"
As students shared their concerns, Williams made notes of students" answers in her journal. Students had worries of work, school, the environment, lost time, family and war, among other concerns.
"Is my lifestyle sustainable? This is what keeps me up at night," Williams said. Even though every student had something different to say, Williams suspects everyone shares some of the same worries.
One student said that our nation seems to be asleep right now. Williams embraced the statement and said this adds to the problems our nation faces in regards to the environment, war and other problems across the nation.
Williams spent some time discussing her book "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place.' She said the overriding question when she wrote this book was "How do we find refuge in change?" She also discussed her newest book "Mosaic: Finding Beauty in a Broken World" and said that the overriding question for this book is "How do we find beauty in a broken world?"
She also spent some time on State Street in Madison and showed the class a button she bought, which said, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal - Martin Luther King Jr." This saying means a lot to Williams, as she told the class that in order to make the necessary changes in the world, people need to make their voices heard.
Tempest believes everything in life is connected, and she explores this in "Refuge." The fact that her mother, brother and countless others in her Utah community developed cancer after nuclear testing in the 1950s is an example.
Nuclear testing is a topic of discussion among the government, and more nuclear testing could be a possibility in the future. "Do we really need a nuclear bomb and testing?" Williams asked the class.
Everyone has a unique and special gift, and Williams asked each student to write for five minutes about what are their gifts to the world. After the five minutes, some of the students were surprised by what they ended up writing. A few students were brave enough to share what they wrote.
"This is how the world changes," Williams said in response to students' gifts. "You need to take your gift and magnify it. You may feel like you don't have any power, but you do. Students are some of the most powerful people who can make a difference. It's the attempt that matters."
Williams also spoke to students and faculty Tuesday night at the McGraw Auditorium. She incorporated much of the discussion from the Nature Writing class. She shared the students worries and gifts, as well as her own. She also spent a lot of time reading from her books to help inspire students and faculty to make changes in the world.
Senior Abbey Tinker attended the event at McGraw and was amazed by what Williams had to say. "It was very moving, and it makes me think more about environmentalism," Tinker said. "She said things that we all need to hear, and she's inspired me to work to change the way I live."
- Abby Clark,clarkae12@uww.edu
