Spring quarter of my Senior year at Evergreen began with the intention of a Capstone Project studying the relationship between Oleotourism (Olive Oil Tourism) and the preservation of Millennial Olive Trees throughout the Mediterranean. And, I did that, I developed a 15-week ILC (Independant Learning Contract) spanning Winter and Spring Quarters where I traveled to Greece, Italy and Spain and met with olive oil producers and tour industry professionals looking at this relationship. 

This trip and work were so much more than I expected. I knew from past experience and projects how valuable experiential learning is, especially for me personally and I developed this trip to explore that relationship deeper with the knowledge that I would discover more than I could imagine. I of course learned more about the relationship between big old olive trees and how tourism is helping to preserve them than I thought possible – I am still surprised at the amount of information I can present when asked about Olive Trees and Olive Oil.  But as I now know, these experiences were only the tiniest of gems I got out of the entire trip. As I prepared this Capstone project, I kept returning to how in awe I was that I was able to get here, to travel and discover and learn and write – this type of work has been a dream of mine, that I never thought possible and here I was doing it. I will continue to write about my study of olive oil tourism and millennial olive trees and my time abroad – and that will have to be another time and another place.  For here and now, the real Capstone project, turns out, is the answering of a question I have had for a very long time – which I have identified as The Query.

The Query

How do I take an idea, an interest, a curiosity of mine; research, learn about it, deep dive into its world, travel and experience it – touch it, taste it, feel it – then process the information and share it with others? I want to observe and learn how things relate specifically to nourishment: food, community, history, culture, people. Who are they, the ones involved in making these things happen, what are their obstacles, motivations, challenges and joys - how does their involvement connect them to their community, locally and globally? I want to be a good steward of these stories and share them in multiple ways – academically, ethically, engaging, inspiring and fun.  These questions have lovingly become The Query.

I never thought it possible that I – me – could form an education or a professional career out of The Query, in fact anytime I would ponder it, I never got further than that, it was only an unattainable dream. And yet suddenly here I was doing it: I was learning how to take an interest of mine and following it through, experiencing and sharing it with others – I was using The Query to shape my education. This, this is the real education. I now have a degree in multiple paths that are applicable to the real world. Writing, communication, hospitality, travel, content, food culture, sociology, food agriculture, and more all through applying this ‘unatainable dream’ of mine, this set of questioning and processes to an interest. As I wrote about my discoveries of the relationship between Ancient Olive Trees and Tourism I looked back through my education and realized it was all guided by these questions, so I decided to change course and share the story of my education and how I answered one question, The Query , which was the most impactful part of my time here at Evergreen.  

This site is where I take you down my educational road, click the link for the rest of the story.

The Mediterranean Olive Road: A Capstone Story