Hello! My name is Aisha Kazembe, and I am a graduate student in Design and Technology at Parsons School of Design, and I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California. My work and interests intersect between engineering, art, sustainability, and politics, always landing in one or all of those categories. I care about contributing to my community by using technology to push decarbonization in buildings and cities, and I also care about contributing to my community by creating art and media that lets me connect to the world around me. While I hold a lot of pride in my work in STEM, I also believe that art and music are important areas of work to balance in my own life, and within the world in general. One can solve problems that seem practical and immediate, while the other draws attention to humanity and gives people a reason to want to solve those problems in the first place. To me it feels extremely important to do both of these things; to contribute to sustainability in a way that suits my skills and interests, while also making sure that the creative part of my own life and community stays vibrant. A real-world issue that I feel deeply connected to is climate change and environmental racism. When I was in high school, I had two key moments that weaved together my attention and interest in these topics. First, at age fourteen I read a book called Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson. Brian Stevenson is a lawyer who, with Ava Ansley, created the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. This Initiative aimed to fight against social injustices in the legal system that were resulting in high conviction rates of Black Americans. It was an extremely intense book to read, but it opened my eyes to the reality of being a person of color in the United States. The next piece of media that led me to my interest in sustainability in the built environment was an article I read about a prison in Norway, called Bastoy Prison. This prison is an ecological prison that lives on an island; there are only about 100 inmates at any given time, and the prison aims not only to separate those incarcerated from society, but also to rehabilitate them so that they come out as functional, contributing, members of society. At this prison, the inmates are treated like humans; their punishment is not being able to participate in normal society, not taking away their humanity. The accommodations are normal, and while in the prison, the inmates are required to work and learn how to grow food, take care of animals, build and fix structures, and collaborate. The most interesting part about this is that this prison is extremely effective and has a recidivism rate of 20%, meaning that only 20% of released inmates end up back in prison–compared to the average recidivism rate of 68% in prisons in the United States. Learning about these two stories made me realize how important–and intentional–architecture and living space design is to the function of society. Both of these stories coincidentally focused on the prison system, but together are extremely illuminating to the fact that the structures around us either contribute to hostility or protect us from it. The way we build the world around determines the type of life we live, the interactions we have, our happiness, and our decisions. When the world and environment are treated with care, and when we are encouraged and taught to do so, there are real results like a healthier society both mentally and physically. Understanding this is what created my drive to contribute to combatting climate change and environmental racism by focusing on the design of the cities and buildings around us. This led me to choose my first area of study, Environmental Engineering, as well as my second area of study, Design and Technology. It is an unconventional path, as both majors are relatively new but I believe the pairing of an engineering degree and an arts degree will set me up to be able to tackle issues that require both technical skill, and an understanding of art, humanity, culture, and the social systems that surround them. Environmental Engineering gave me the technical background in the topics I care about, and taught me about things like water and air quality, the legal systems behind environmental and health protection, how to design systems that clean air and water, and how to design infrastructure that’s greener. So far, Design and Technology has allowed me to spend a lot of time reading and discussing social issues, understanding how design can address these issues, and how to consider diversity in identity and experience when designing anything. It has also allowed me to spend time learning skills that I truly enjoy and keep me feeling optimistic about the world ahead. One goal I’ve set for myself in the next 5 years is to become proficient in Python (without AI) and develop a program that allows governments to analyze the future of and risks to the built environment. I see this as a way to prepare cities for the effects of climate change, and allow governments to plan ahead to protect their constituents. This could help add resiliency in the case of natural disasters and ensure that we have the infrastructure we need to prevent unnecessary death and destruction in the face of increased natural disasters. I want to do this by gathering historical data on cities, buildings, materials, weather patterns, and deterioration of materials under specific conditions, consolidate this data and build a model that could predict the effect various conditions could have on built structures. (This should also answer point 3!) Education has helped me better understand myself and my purpose in every way I can imagine. It has taught me to love learning, it’s taught me where I can go to learn or find information, it’s taught me about collaboration and respect for my peers (who are doing really incredible work in both art and technology!!), and it’s taught me how I can use my skills to care for the world around me. Every year of education I’ve had has led me to be a more confident and caring person, and I think that that journey is irreplaceable. My identity as a woman has influenced the way I move through the world in both positive and negative ways. Earlier on in my educational journey, I faced a lot of imposture syndrome, which I believe was a result of being a woman of color and being from a single parent household. I felt as though I really was not seen as someone who was smart or had potential outside of the people who knew me well. It took me some time to get over this, but being able to work with other women who I thought were absolutely brilliant (my mother included) gave me something to look forward to, and gave me sight of a life I wanted and could work toward. I think that is one of the best parts about being a woman–the community and support that comes with it. It is a special thing to be surrounded by people who are intelligent, creative, strategic, and caring, all at the same time. Realizing the power in that is life-changing. To me, leadership means being able to stand up for what’s right, even when it is hard or scary. Sometimes it can be easy to give into the systems that already exist, even if they actively make the world worse for a lot of people. Being a good leader means recognizing when there’s a problem, figuring out how to fix it (or knowing how to find someone who can fix it), and not backing down from that challenge even when it’s difficult. I think I’ve had to be resourceful and resilient my whole life. I grew up as the oldest daughter of a single mother so everything I’ve done in my life from getting into college, getting scholarships, working multiple jobs while being a full time student, and moving to different cities alone for opportunities required resourcefulness and resiliency. If awarded this scholarship, it would help me pursue my dreams by helping me afford grad school. I only have one year left of my program, but with the rising cost of living in New York City, along with the supplies for my program, every dollar is very helpful. This would allow me to continue my studies with a lower financial burden and spend more time focusing on my thesis, while spending less time worrying about how to afford it as someone who has always financed my education on my own! Thank you!