Ella Wightman is studying human-centered urban design and philosophy at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), and through her classes, campus job and volunteering, she's turning hands-on learning opportunities into meaningful community impact.

“As someone born and raised in Duluth, I am quite invested in my community,” Wightman said. Still, after enrolling at UMD, she recognized just how much more she had to learn about her hometown. “My world expanded. I joined clubs and talked with my professors, who pointed me to more steps to expand.”

UMD broadened her perspective, and gave her direction, she says. “I like to think that it all started with a class.”

For Wightman, that was an art history course taught by Jennifer Webb, called City as a Work of Art. Students in the course explore the history of visual culture, architecture, and urban form, and have the opportunity to work with real-life stakeholders on a project that parallels and partners with an urban planning effort happening in the city. “Meaningful change begins with people coming together,” said Webb.

Wightman and her classmates visited the site of the old Central High school and created a neighborhood design that prioritized green space, housing, and more, which was then presented to stakeholders working on the community project. The class showed her that she could “put out a project that will actually impact Duluth,” Wightman said.

“ I felt in awe and deeply empowered by Dr. Webb's curriculum, which gave students the opportunity to make real change.”

The class ignited what Wightman calls the “spark” that fuels her passions of “engaging with my community, my neighbors, my fellow students, friends or family,” she said.

“The most rewarding experiences I’ve had at UMD are the ones that fueled that spark.”

City as a Work of Art started her on a path toward working with the Duluth Center for Women and Children (DCWC). Each week, Wightman volunteers for DCWC Nourish, a program led by Aparna Katre, associate professor and interdisciplinary studies program director, that aims to help low-income families in Duluth develop and sustain healthy eating habits. Together, Wightman and the other volunteers and employees assemble meal kits that provide nutritious, easy-to-prepare meals.

Through her work with DCWC Nourish, Wightman has "formed deep relationships with people from different socioeconomic levels and different life experiences."

“It feels so important to me,” she said, “that feeling of community.”

Wightman also works as a student project manager for the Community-Engaged Food and Environmental Justice Studies Hub.

Having a seat at the table alongside community organizers and leaders from UMD has been empowering. “ Being able to listen to that conversation and contribute to that conversation...taught me that my voice matters.”

Some of the most valuable lessons are perhaps less tangible, and are learned through experience. “I've learned how important trust is and how consistency with community groups really fosters that trust,” she said.

Through influential courses like City as a Work of Art, volunteering with the DCWC and engaging in the food justice hub, UMD has taken Wightman’s learning far beyond the classroom. She has seen the positive impact she can have on the spaces and people around her, something she plans to continue long after graduation.

“I see a strong community as the foundation for holistic growth towards a better future. I've learned in my time at UMD that I'm the best version of myself when I can take what I'm learning and apply it to the things that I care about, which are my neighbors and my community ... I thrive the most when I can engage what I'm learning with my interactions through, and in, my community.”