Meet New Village School Alumni - FINN DOES, Class of 2020
Jul 18, 2024 | by Amy Novesky
Meet New Village School Alumni - FINN DOES, Class of 2020
"The most important thing is you're doing what you're doing not for college, not for your parents, not for status, but for your heart and for the Earth, which gives us life."
Finn Does attended 1st through 8th grade at the New Village School. After graduating in 2020, he was a student at Marin Academy in San Rafael. Finn has spent the last four years—much influenced by his upbringing at NVS—organizing youth for climate justice in hopes of co-creating a climate resilient Bay Area for future generations, as well as co-chairing the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit, a collective dedicated to spearheading climate action and environmental justice education through a youth-governance and horizontal mentorship model.
While some may refer to this as my "passion" or "hobby" I want to make the distinction that I do this work out of the fear, grief, loss, love, and commitment I have for people + planet in the face of the fossil fuel industry poisoning and sacrificing my generation's futures in the name of billionaires' profit. This work can be conducive to burnout which is why community is so vital to our organizing.
Since graduating NVS, Finn says he's learned so much about himself and in the process re-learned how much the values New Village imparted in him influence and shape his worldview today.
I feel as if I've come full circle, building a kind of circular, connected, and humanitarian community in my life today that I was lucky to participate in as a student at NVS.
I miss being a part of a community that truly practiced what they preached. NVS teachers live to the values they teach in the classroom. I'm tired of all the 'fakeness' that exists in our society. New Village is a haven for 'realness' in a time where masking, social climbing, and self-image permeate all spheres of our culture. I miss big circle. I even miss singing all the songs!
(Finn Does with fellow NVS alumni)
This fall, Finn will be studying at UC Berkeley's Rausser College of Natural Resources, pursuing a major in Society & Environment, with perhaps a minor in Public Policy and/or LGBTQIIA+ studies as well as a double-major in Legal Studies.
Don't let ANYONE—other peers, 'teachers', parents—deter you from what brings you joy and what makes you feel most alive. Chase your dreams. I had a college counselor tell me I wouldn't get into 'schools like Berkeley' and I took that as an invitation to prove him wrong, and I ended up getting in early in the top 1% of their applicants. However, the most important thing is you're doing what you're doing not for college, not for your parents, not for status, but for your heart and for the Earth, which gives us life.