Outside the McCallum English hall, tucked amongst the picnic tables and the chatter of students, lie the small beginnings of a loquat, a fig and a beautyberry tree. Each branch peeking from its stalk represents more than just a plant, but a dream dutifully growing into being.
A year ago, senior Lexi Fredine planted these trees as her Community Action Project for her internship with Austin Youth Forest Council. Her idea was to create an interactive environment with students and nature at McCallum in order to promote a greater connection between the two.
“I wanted to bring them [loquats] to McCallum because they grow well and they’re edible,” Fredine said. “Same thing with figs and I wanted to create a sort of a food forest on campus. Obviously it’s not a lot but I think it’s cool to give students the opportunity to interact with their environment like that, and hopefully they’ll be there for a long time.”
This project wasn’t just offhand for Fredine, who has spent her high school career investing herself in environmental pursuits. Vice President of Gardening Club, member of Austin Youth River Watch and an avid forager, Fredine grew just like her trees into having a deep love for the earth and sustainability. Her passion for creating green spaces led her to Oregon State University to study ecological engineering.
“I wanted to make communities and make green spaces on a larger scale than just studying biology,” Fredine said. “Then I found ecological engineering and Oregon State, and that was the perfect thing for me because I want to make a human difference, a tangible difference. With that design element I can bring in my love of art and I get to bring in plants.”
Art and plants truly are a focus in Fredine’s life. As an art major, for her AP 3D design class, she decided to investigate the use of natural materials in art, specifically species native to Texas.
“I make everything from scratch. I stripped yucca leaves and twisted them into fiber or rope, so I’ve been using that. It’s been cool to work with plants at a more artistic level,” Fredine said.
Fredine spent her time in Carey West’s AP 3D class collecting bones, seeds and eventually weaving pine needles. She even dug up local clay to test for firing.
“They all [her art] have this reverence for nature and exploring the different ways people can interact with nature and have reverence for nature,” Ms. West said. “I know the goal is to photograph them in a way that represents the interaction between people and the sculptures that were made and holding them in a sacred space as nature is sacred to Lexi.”
Her experimentation with nature don’t just stop with art. As part of her role as vice president in gardening club, she creates mini lessons about native species to present during meetings. Sometimes, they even involve hands-on explorations.
“I make little lessons each week,” Fredine said. “One example is cochennial which is the little white stuff that is on cactuses. They contain a bright red dye if you squish them, but they’re also PH reactive. So I set up a little lab where you could add things to it to change the color.”
President of gardening club, junior Max Turner agrees that the lessons they make let them explore their interests in plants more than they would be able to on their own.
“The gardening club has allowed both Lexi and I to expand our interest in plants by not only teaching about them to the club but learning about them ourselves,” Turner said. “Lexi has dived so deep into foraging and it’s so interesting to watch her fascinating grow.”
As well as the lessons, Fredine helps organize bake sales to raise money for raised garden beds and works to keep their small garden thriving.
“It takes resilience to go there every week and figure out something and have that responsibility on top of school work and everything else,” she said. “But it is really fun because it allows me to explore and do this research on my own that I otherwise wouldn’t be motivated to do.”
Fredine is grateful for the space McCallum gave her to pursue her interests, and the support she got from her staff and peers.
I’ve definitely grown a lot as a person and artistically,” Fredine said. “And being here at McCallum has been so inspiring because people are so passionate here. Even if there aren’t a bunch of other people passionate about plants, it’s still very inspiring to see people who all have such unique journeys and are so whole-heartedly fulfilling that.”
Fredine hopes her own journey will continue on the same path thus far by furthering her studies in sustainability and horticulture, and continuing her art. She has many dreams about bettering the world with her work, from building sustainable communities to urban greenspaces to spreading awareness and information on the subjects.
“There’s so many things where we could make such a difference if we just decide to work alongside the earth and really build our communities based on our environment,” Fredine said.
What Fredine says to be the main goal in her life is to eventually create and live on her own homestead. Homesteads are living units where a person produces everything (or as much as possible) of their needs at their own home, ranging from food to power. The sustainability and self-sufficiency of it is something Fredine craves.
“Life is so complicated, and we’re so separated from reality and from the earth so I think it would be really lovely to live a life a lot closer to it,” Fredine said. “Not only is that more sustainable but I think it would be a lot better for my mental health. Some of my dreams are lofty but having a community of homesteads is a huge dream of mine.”
Driven by her passion, dreams and awareness for the world around herFredine will leave McCallum this year to discover, create and find the fulfillment she seeks in her work.
“I’m not too concerned if everything turns out the way I think it will now because you can never predict the future,” she said. “But I feel like the biggest things are finding what your values are , living by your values and letting that guide you. And so I’m not worried about the future because I’m excited. I know what I value, I know the feeling that I want to accomplish and I’m content letting life take me there.”