Eva Westheimer, guest writer, turned in her story to the Warren Wilson College Echo:

by Eva Westheimer, guest writer:

Until September 3rd I had never been arrested. I’ll admit, there have been several times over the past year that I’ve considered risking arrest for civil disobedience. When I heard about the Tar Sands Action I was just coming down from my March on Blair Mountain high, and I was ecstatic to hear I may be seeing my activist friends again. Lately I’ve put much of my energy into anti-mountaintop-removal work, so I was a little hesitant to put my time and energy into something that I didn’t know that much about.

As college students we have many commitments and hobbies that often dictate our day-to-day life. Recently, three students including myself were arrested during the Tar Sands Action in Washington D.C. We each took time out of our daily lives to travel to D.C. and spend a minimal amount of time in discomfort. Each of us had different tipping points, but we knew that it was our time to do something. Some went against Obama because the tar sands are detrimental to the wolves in Canada. Others just came as support or to see old friends. Here is my reflection and a little background on the day of action, the days preceding and the days following it. ...