Personal Statement: The Sustainability Squad

I have attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for the last two years. I will be entering my junior year pursuing a Bachelor Degree of Science with a major in Environmental Studies. My career interests entail green energy and natural resource management. I was a young child when I started attending a summer camp program that emphasized nature and environmental conservation—ever since I have made outdoor activities into hobbies and continued interest in environmental sustainability. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh focuses on sustainability through green building, alternative and solar energy, and curbing pollution.

Environmental sustainability is the ability to be able to continue a certain process or use a certain resource indefinitely (Mason). For example, if you’re using a certain resource and you know it’s going to run out one day, that resource is unsustainable. Sustainability is important because a lot of the practices that we do in modern society from agriculture, to energy source, and even development, are completely depleting our resources. This practices were also made to accommodate our fast pace lifestyle, everything is built and made to be fast and cheap, nothing is made to last anymore. Many people are realizing the importance of being sustainable and the world is slowly changing to sustainable practices like Renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, while also changing the fast and easy mind set to a more “reusable” one. Brevard College has boarded the sustainable train of the world by making several additions to the school like solar panels, alternative transportation options, a Fair trade and organic Coffee shop, and several environmental based clubs. Although they are heading in the right direction, many changes still need to be made in order to achieve a well-developed sustainable campus.

The Pine Jog Fellowship is a three-semester dual-enrollment program that focuses on environmental improvement and education. I was required to facilitate an environmental project with elementary school students for the course. The project that my students and I chose to pursue was to restore their school’s butterfly garden. The goal of the project was to provide all students with hands-on opportunities to learn about butterfly metamorphosis, butterfly food preferences, and habitat needs. In addition, students learned how to grow and care for plants.

The Adams Middle School academic community were offered incredible opportunities enjoy experiential learning on site. Educators and pupils participate in conservation activities on a weekly basis (CEC, 2017).

My BIO 2302-02 class was presented with the challenge to create Piedmont Environmental Alliance’s (PEA) new program. PEA is a volunteer-based non-profit group they have minimal staffing to make this request a reality. ¨The mission of Piedmont Environmental Alliance, Inc. (PEA) is to inspire people to make choices that protect and restore the environment.¨(1)They needed our help to develop their next environmental education program for deployment in local middle schools. This challenge would be one of the last determining factors for our final grade in the course.

Being an environmental science students will allow me to continue acquire and share my knowledge and experience, coming from a country that is still deeply struggling with social, political, and economic problems. I could sense it the humanity of the academic and professional community, as if it were a parent, nurturing its child scholarly. Right now, I am that child determined to pursue a dream in spite of multiple past challenges, persevering in seeking ways to better my life, to challenge the status quo and the world around me.

In the world today, there is a gap between science and policymaking and civil society. Different perspectives and, different in a way, “languages” have prevented solving dilemmas that transcend these boundaries like global warming. Throughout high school and college, I have attempted to bridge this divide and combine both science and policymaking lenses in order to use my skills and knowledge in each area to have an impact on the world. This is the reason I have chosen to major in environmental science and political science. I fundamentally believe that an interdisciplinary approach is the only way that we can handle these multilayered and complex problems that pose the greatest risk to society.

An experience that has greatly influenced my understanding of the world has been my participation in Florida Atlantic University’s Pine Jog Fellowship. The Pine Jog Fellowship is a three-semester program that focuses on environmental improvement and education. In the Pine Jog Fellowship I have had the opportunity to develop my own environmental service projects that would benefit my community. During one semester of my fellowship, I coordinated beach clean-ups for Lake Worth Beach. I recruited over sixty people and collectively, we recycled and threw away over one hundred pounds of trash off of Lake Worth Beach. I also spoke to local fishermen and educated them on the dangers of throwing monofilament fishing line into the ocean. During the

Moving through my Girl Scout journey, my troop’s activities became increasingly focused on helping both the planet and others, leading me to become fiercely protective of the environment and all who live in it. In fifth

After several discussions and brainstorming with leaders and students, I partnered up with one of my high school friends and founded “CSM Conservation Society”. Our club became official our second semester with the primary goal to promote alternatives to

You are a member of the environmental club at your school. Your club has been asked by the principal to propose ways to make the school more sustainable. You will need to use your knowledge of environmental sustainability to make your school's environment ''greener''.

Steve Hansen was an instructor who informed many students in Wisconsin about the importance of renewable energy, environmental sustainability, and earth stewardship. His creativity, energy, and compassion inspired many to become better people. The Steve Hansen Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to honor his spirit and memory, and to help the next generation carry on his important work. He lived the “Earth Steward” philosophy of making ways of global change from a local-to-global scales to improve ecosystem strength and individual well being. His belief in this global reasoning inspired other students and adults around him to strive to live by this philosophy and make the world a better place. He endured to teach others about the

Picture This! Imagine a world with Mother Nature not being endangered by us; representing the true beauty it has; whether it’s the smell of a flower, the sight of a cloudy day, or even the touch of a wild animal. Knowing the fact that I can make a positive change throughout my employment will have an impact on the world we live in today. At one point whether it’s your job or a career everybody wants a promotion. Cricket, cricket, cricket not the actual insect, but Cricket Wireless; “a prepaid wireless service provider in the United States that offers voice, text, and data (Welch, 2014)” has given me a chance to make something positive throughout our everyday lives. As a marketing manager for Cricket Wireless, I tend to go to events to inform people about the promotions we currently have. The purpose of this essay is to discuss the three main reasons why my employment can be helpful towards sustainability;

This essay will review two significant environmental experiences I have encountered exploring the influences of these my life and how these have altered my view on what is environmental sustainability. An examination into these two experiences will follow into reviewing my perspectives on environmental sustainability and how these two experiences influenced this. To conclude a discussion on my role as a teacher and how this will impact myself when in the classroom.

- Green Globe Award project as supporting the encouragement and dissemination of works to conserve natural resources and environment of the community, including youth.