Marissa Evans

Marissa Evans joined Gaia University for an inspiring network and supportive structure to actualize her visions. Passionate about self-directed learning, Marissa reclaimed her education when she began unschooling at sixteen. She left her hometown in Massachusetts to travel and study with LEAPNOW Transforming Education based in California. This year long experience imparted tools for empowerment, skillful communication, living in integrity, and stepping into adulthood with authenticity.

The following year Marissa attended a Gaia University orientation at the Farm in TN. Introduced to the strange and wonderful world of action learning, she began exploring ways of merging creative flow with clearly articulated goals, imagination with strategic engagement, poetry with effective documentation, and dreaming with active experimentation.

During her first years in the Integrative Eco-Social Design pathway, Marissa participated in a wide range of trainings, workshops, skill shares, conferences, and rituals; focusing on cultural wisdom and regeneration. She traveled, lived and worked in the US and Mexico; staying for six months at both Tryon Farm in Portland, OR and Earthaven Ecovillage near Asheville, NC. Marissa has been deeply inspired by, and highly recommends, participating in the following events:

Entering her third and final year as a BSc Associate, Marissa continues developing her voice as a cultural creative, practicing skills of a community educator, and cultivating wisdom in the healing arts. Through a biomythography book project Marissa writes about regenerative education, healing from dominant culture, rewilding, herbal medicine, queer mythology, and other themes present in both her personal journey and the greater story of the collective unfolding. This writing project serves as her capstone project for Gaia University, during which she will be writing, editing, and moving the book towards publication.

In the winter she is focusing on grounding and creating strong containers; researching her ancestral lineage, acting in a community theater production, and stirring bubbling pots of fermentation projects. As the spring and summer unfold, she plans to work with Jane Brunette to write her book, continue playing strategically with her wonderful adviser Jennifer English, and participate in a magical arts apprenticeship with Dori Midnight in Western MA. Last September Marissa enjoyed acting as a team leader in a Gaia University event, and agreed to help organize two more events during 2012. 

Gaia University and I have been developing a symbiotic relationship, and I love being a part of an evolving organism that is always growing. So often I emerge from an immersion in Gaia University, whether from a week-long event or an hour conference call, feeling inspired; with new insight about myself and regenerative ways of relating to the world. I have met some of my greatest allies through exchanging output packets and attending events; my main Advisor has become a dear friend and amazing mentor; and regular calls connect me with a global movement of world-changers.

I have gone through cycles of feeling like going on pause, or just leaving Gaia University, but when I show up with whatever is most alive in my heart, I continually realize how the University encourages us to integrate our whole selves and lives into our degree pathway. Anything can be made into a project, can involve a design process, and can be documented in an output packet. Gaia University offers a liberating structure that empowers me to design my life and learning. I feel confident that the tools I am gaining through my degree pathway will support me to develop right livelihood, navigate rapidly changing times with creative strategies, and live a fulfilling life. Viva la Gaia!

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