Describing the Significance of Water in My Life by Katie Horgan, 2024 Cohort

Water has always been significant in my life. At the age of six I began competitively swimming, something I continued through the end of high school. Though the pools I swam in were strictly manmade, I still felt a connection to any body of water I came across. After graduation, I continued my streak of always being near water by getting a job as a traveling lifeguard for some pools and lakes in my area. The job had its’ challenges, but there was one particular aspect that kept me coming back for two more summers. I loved seeing how people interacted with each other. As a lifeguard, I was basically paid to people watch, but in a pool environment people seem to act somewhat differently. I have seen grow adults squeal with joy at their friend jumping off the diving board. I have experienced a baby saying some of their first words poolside and watched as the parents smiled ecstatically. Water provided them a space to congregate and make memories. I myself have had these same experiences. I have spent my summers swimming in quarries, lakes, and beaches. Water has provided me with so many happy moments shared with friends and family. 

I think the thing that fascinates me most about water is that it sustains life. It was in high school when I first became interested in sustainability, and of course I thought about how water factors in. Water ecosystems have an interconnectedness that still intrigues me. In college I began to learn about energy pyramids. An energy pyramid is meant to represent that every ecosystem has a flow of energy. When this flow is interrupted somehow, the entire pyramid suffers. Pollution, climate change, and a lack of respect for our environment are the main reasons why this flow would be interrupted. This knowledge furthered the passion I already had for protecting our environment. I started to think about how pollutants could harm creatures both on land and in water, and how this could lead to me not being able to make more memories in the beautiful outdoor spaces I was used to frequenting. For this reason and many others, I decided to join the River Stewards program at UD. I know the program has expanded my knowledge of water an immense amount. This knowledge will continue to grow for my remaining two years. 

I excitedly look forward to the rest of my time as a River Steward at UD and beyond.

Leadership Outside of River Stewards by Isabel Bartram, 2023 Cohort

  A key feature of the River Stewards program is a group of people who are all learning to be leaders, and these skills often come out in other areas of life. While I am a River Steward, I am also the VP of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Appreciation Club, a Resident Assistance, and the Director of Arts and Cosplay, or DAC for short for the Anime Club. Each leadership opportunity allows me to express different sets of skills and today I want to talk about how the DAC position lets me be a leader in creativity. 

UD’s Anime Club at Ohayocon 2022, I am kneeling on the right with the blond wig

UD’s Anime Club is so full of life and is truly a club of friends. We all help each other grow, learn about new things together, and we’re there to pick people up when they are feeling down. As the DAC, it’s my job to help people with their artistic or cosplay goals. In case you don’t know, cosplay refers to either making or buying a costume of a character from a show, comic, or video game and it is a great deal of fun! I have been cosplaying for seven years, so it’s been an honor to help pass my love of cosplay to the anime club members. I help people learn to sew, give advice about how to make a prop, or generally encourage people to try something new in a safe environment. 

One of my favorite originals; the harvest fairy, which combines my love of nature with costume design

I relate this experience to River Stewards in that similarly to how the Stews try to get people more engaged in environmental issues and show care for the community, I am there for the Anime Club and help them to feel more comfortable with themselves and be more active in things they care about. Just as the Stews are passionate about helping people grow more comfortable with the environment, I help people as the DAC to feel more comfortable liking what they like and loving themselves at the same time. A big issue within the cosplay community is body issues; and I try to help cosplayers feel confident with their unique body type when cosplaying. I have spent tons of time in my life working with people on accepting their body and feeling “good enough” to cosplay characters that are conventionally beautiful or have the “perfect body.” The truth is that we are all beautiful just the way we are and being the DAC helps me to reach people with that message and help my friends enjoy their favorite characters through cosplay while also learning just how beautiful each and every one of them are!