From California to Missouri: exploring interests
By: Caroline Frank
Staff Writer
Amadi Crawford is the treasurer of the Constitution Committee, a branch of the Student Social Action Committee (SSAC) at St. Louis Community College-Meramec.
“We’re interested in things like activism [and] things happening around the world,” Crawford said. “[The Constitution Committee] is a select assembly where we’re drafting the constitution, which is a lot of work.”
Crawford said members of SSAC go to protests and try to pair with other groups to do campus activities.
“We’re really into solidarity,” Crawford said.
Crawford said that since it’s a committee as opposed to a club, it requires more structure.
“We have to come up with not only our mission statement — what we stand for [and] what solidarity is to us and to others — but also etiquette,” Crawford said.
She said that since the SSAC is involved in the community, they must be conscientious of how they are acting while at a protest or conducting a Socratic circle.
“For any great movement, you need rules to make sure things don’t get out of hand, and to make sure your original purpose doesn’t get lost,” Crawford said. “We’re making sure that the values we hold don’t get lost.”
Crawford was also treasurer of the Gay-Straight Alliance Club at one of her previous schools and said it’s important to form gay-straight alliances to “override the misconceptions between communities” and “try to find unity.”
Crawford said she enjoys anything that incorporates group collaboration.
“I’m always big into community-based activities,” Crawford said.
Crawford said time management is the hardest part about being a college student. She said it is hard to balance school with everything else: extracurricular activities, work, social relationships, self-exploration, household obligations and life experiences all at the same time. “That’s the real struggle,” Crawford said.
Crawford moved from California to St. Louis in October 2016 to live with her mom. She said another struggle is that she misses the attitude in California because the dominant ideology in California is more in alignment with her political beliefs.
“[California is] a lot more easy-going,” Crawford said. “The thing about California is all of our markets are more connected; people are more focused on helping everyone else out because they know that in the long run it’s going to affect them. It also helps that we have a lot of minorities — our economy requires everyone to work together.”
Crawford said the goal after Meramec is to travel.
“I do a lot of traveling,” Crawford said. “I like to meet new people.”
Crawford plans to transfer to the University of California-Santa Cruz after leaving Meramec and is thinking about going to school for forestry.
Crawford said forestry relates to being a humanitarian in that helping the environment in turn helps the people living in it.
“It’s like a chain reaction,” Crawford said.
Crawford said plants play one of the biggest roles in the earth as a whole.
“I think, ‘What more can we get from plants than [what] they’re already giving us?’” Crawford said.
Crawford said there is a safe medium between overexerting what they have for us and underusing it, and she is trying to figure out what that line is between the two.
“How can plants help us before we’re hurting them?” Crawford asked.
Crawford said she hopes one day she can help find balance between the people and their trees. However, if forestry does not work out, her other option is doing Mortician’s College in California.
“We have full universities for being a mortician,” Crawford said. “People are always dying, so I’ll never not have a job.”
Crawford said being a mortician relates to social justice in that a large part of it is laying people to rest.
“It allows people to let go of loved ones and feel complete,” Crawford said. “Like they’ve taken care of them.”
Crawford said it also involves respecting people’s traditions.
“Every funeral is different depending on what culture it is,” Crawford said.
Crawford said that when people can trust you to take care of someone they love, you’re helping them.
Crawford said her heart is set on California, and she plans to move back there after she leaves Meramec. From there, she wants to explore her passion for people, social justice, nature,
travel, new experiences and ideas.
“I always do everything, all at once,” Crawford said.
Going forward, Crawford said she plans to pursue social justice in one way or another because it affects everyone and everything, everywhere.
“Being a humanitarian isn’t local,” Crawford said.
