Environmental Studies
Where it All STarted
Mountain Biking Expeditions
I started biking as soon as I could walk, granted they were run bikes without pedals, but soon I'd be zooming around Penasquitos Canyon right outside my house with my parents or loading gear into our minivan to ride at Big Bear Mountain or Yosemite. At the end of my eighth grade year, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to get back into mountain biking. I picked switch-back trails and deemed them my projects and would practice whenever I had the time. Now I know every trail on our side of the canyon and have been taking my friends out to show them my favorite rides. This summer, my father and I went to Vermont where we went to Stowe and rode the Pinnacle Trail as well as looped around a bike park for a couple hours. I’ve biked Mount Bachelor in Oregon to practice flow trails and switchbacks and went to Stowe, Vermont, to switch up the scenery. I find that the difficulty of mountain biking is perfectly juxtaposed by the beauty and serenity of nature, making it one of my most calming activities. Whether it be biking, climbing, or hiking, I’ve found that the more I travel outdoors, the more connected and protective I feel over the environment. Seeing the stretches of forest and encountering animals on bike rides is a feeling that’s hard to put into words,. I want to preserve the earth and restore what has been depleted so that generations after me will have the luxury of seeing the same landscapes that I do.
Fighting the Climate Crisis
I want to go into environmental studies in college as well as study humanities in some capacity, as I want to work in the environmental field from the standpoint of helping communities most at risk in the climate crisis. I’ve always loved nature and have been fascinated by all things living. I want more than anything to keep our world and its animals alive. When I was in grade school, I thought I wanted to work with marine life and little animals. This idea was fueled by my uncle, who bought me a microscope. I would go on expeditions in the canyon to collect pond water to study and find tiny leaves or bugs to inspect. I would track different algae and microorganisms that I thought were cute, but as I got older I was more interested in the tadpole populations in our pond and their life cycles. Understanding life and preserving it seemed to be my calling even before I understood its fragility. Now that I am more aware of the climate crisis and its implications, I understand that the work done by scientists and climate activists is crucial for our earth's survival. I want to be a part of the movement to save the earth as well as the people who are at risk in the coming years.
Exploring More
Than Just Science
I would also like to take art and anthropology classes because I believe that art is entirely intertwined within humanity and vice versa. I want to understand and research different cultures and connect with people around the world as it is one of my goals to study abroad at some point during my undergraduate studies. I’m also interested in expanding my artistic abilities by working with different mediums. I took sculpture and ceramic classes in high school and loved both because I got to create 3D versions of many of the ideas I had previously only painted or drawn. Challenging myself artistically or through working with unfamiliar materials is something I find thrilling and want to continue in college.