Last spring when I was studying away in Buenos Aires, I came across a post on ROR about reviving Green House, a Student Interest Group that caught Covid-19 during the pandemic. Although I was quite involved in sustainability at NYU Abu Dhabi, I was unsure whether I wanted to commit to being an e-board member in my senior year when I would have a capstone project to work on. Yet, I decided to express my interest, and shortly after, I joined the first e-board meeting. When we were asked to choose our positions, I said I’ll take any position no one wants. Turns out, no one wanted to take the position of President.

I let that thought sit for a while after the meeting ended — me, the president of a SIG. Imposter syndrome hit. I have never even applied to be an e-board of this SIG when it was active; do I even know enough about climate change to qualify as a president? Will I get enough people to join? How will this team manage to come together when I don’t know half of them? Do I want to take on the responsibility of almost starting from scratch?

But another thought came up: I am among the last generation that has seen this and many other SIGs alive. I have experienced its hallmark Mock-COP event, attended its weekly meetings, learned about climate, and found a community of people that are similarly passionate about climate action — all of which shaped my path and passion toward sustainability.

I began brainstorming all the potential ideas I could think of for the programming of the SIG, and I got excited. Not only can we recreate what we have done before, but there is potential for so much more: this could be a space where we make partnerships, events, and opportunities happen, such as the newly launched Case Competition. I then decided to take on the role of President, because I wanted to give back to the community by bringing back what allowed me to grow, and by helping this SIG reach its potential. I wanted to help create a space where our passion for climate action could flourish and where we could come together to create something bigger.

I shared the brainstorming document with the other e-board members and invited everyone for our first in-person e-board meeting. I tried to understand the motivations of each e-board member by asking what interested them about working for Green House. We then tried to incorporate what everyone wanted to work on into our programming for the semester. We also identified the hallmark events we would like to host and assigned designated event leads. To get everyone on board, especially when many do not know this SIG, I found it important to allow our e-board members to work on and achieve what they wanted to accomplish.

Back in my first year, I recalled the first meeting packed with people, a space without judgment where I felt comfortable learning at my own pace. Finally, after more than a month of setting our SIG up, we held our first weekly meeting. Only four non-members showed up. Was this discouraging? I gave it the benefit of the doubt that people were not used to in-person SIG activities since many had not experienced a fully in-person semester. (We also lost half of the sign-ups at SIG Fair because we were not familiar with using Engage for collecting student interests.) And yet, at the end of the first meeting, one member, Ola Nowakowska, expressed interest in baking for our next weekly meeting. Although we did not have many people, we enjoyed the conversations and were grateful to have this space to ask questions and share perspectives and knowledge about climate change.

Instead of being disheartened by the turnout of the first meeting, we were motivated to reach out to more people and make our events more exciting. We made sure to get ourselves out there by posting our events on Engage, Instagram, Facebook, and the Student Portal, as well as bringing up the SIG to people when conversations related to climate change arose. Eventually, by hosting consistent weekly meetings, coordinating with Student Life, organizing field trips, collaborating with different stakeholders, attending COP27, and actualizing hallmark events, we have grown beyond our expectations. Our efforts reached a point where we did not have the capacity to accommodate all sign-ups for our Case Competition. By the end of the semester, Green House became one of the most active SIGs, widely respected by the faculty, administration, and offices working on climate issues.

Green House has not only become a valuable space for students of all levels interested in learning more about climate change, but also a space for collaboration and expansion of networks. Leading Green House is an exciting adventure, where I befriended peers that share my passion and formed a community. As the last generation to see Green House alive pre-Covid-19, I am grateful for my past self for taking a leap of faith in leading this SIG, and I am proud of the courage I found for my cause. Green House’s revival last semester shows how engaging our community can be and the possibilities we can create. My heart is filled with happiness seeing the NYUAD community grow from the opportunities I helped create, and I am excited to see them grow even more as we preserve this space and create more opportunities in the future.