I have had the privilege to read and fall deeply in love with multiple books. However, there is one book that has changed me body and soul and ignited a fire inside me to pursue my life’s passion: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. If I was in charge, which is a wonderful idea, of the common reading program at the University of Oregon everyone would be required to read Ishmael. This book can field a mass of student that will change the world.
Ishmael delves into controversial environmental topics by utilizing a wise, talking gorilla, Ishmael that has a series of sessions with a man. Within these sessions, Ishmael teaches the man about humankind’s war against the natural world and their innate urge to take and conquer everything that doesn’t belong to them. Ishmael enlightens the man on how humans are destroying the planet and killing all of the creatures within it, including themselves, at a rapid pace.
Through his lectures, Ishmael not only encapsulates the parasitic relationship that humans have with Earth, but teaches the readers to
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When students can step back from their own lives and identify elements of the world around them, they will be able to easily pick and choose what aspects they want to change or keep. This skill goes a long way to help students throughout college and the rest of their lives. With the mentality that change can come from a simple flick of the wrist and raw determination, students At U of O will go on to change the world. From the campus in Eugene, students will disperse across the world and become doctors who create cures for cancer, Supreme Court justices that diminish the pay gap, or Peace Corps officers the effects change in developing countries. No matter where UO alumni go or what they dedicate their lives to do, they will be able to change the