Bold Nature Matters Scholarship

Ever since I was a toddler, I always wished to experience one thing: for once in my life, I pray to experience the crisp, cold winds of a temperate forest brushing my skin, birds singing beautiful songs as the sunshine breaches the thick blanket of trees. However, that is only for land. I would love to swim underneath the raging seas to see the colors of coral reefs and would adore every set of flora and fauna remaining. Perhaps the thick jungles of the Amazon or the diverse grassland of the African savannah would be splendid to see for another time, but they too are exquisite. Nature is such a beautiful, miraculous mystery of this universe. Nature never failed to amaze me for all of my life in both its appearance and structure. The diverse, colorful array of animals and plants, the compact ecosystem, and their extensive history is merely intriguing. It's inexplicable awe acknowledging organisms apart from ourselves, organisms that work in ways we cannot replicate ourselves and, applying ourselves as a reference, is abnormal. I even remember that my favorite channels were anything covering nature. However, not many say the same about admiring nature. I've helped by donating to organizations such as One Tree Planted and tried to bring awareness through my classmates by drawing nature and the grim realities of overhunting, deforestation, and global warming. Even for my engineering class, I attempted to create a trash compactor to neatly dispose of both compost and recyclable material so that urban cities and nature could have access to improved sanitary lives. Regardless of my efforts to salvage what this world offers are all for not, I can still admire its existence for now. Meanwhile, I'll still ponder on the presence of the divine-like nature of a temperate forest.

I have visited 53 of the 63 National Parks so far, and I am planning to visit more this year. My visits to National Parks and other protected areas have cultivated my love of nature. Seeing the diversity and fragility of environments within the United States has influenced my interest in preserving the environment. Visiting with Park Rangers and Naturalists has been an inspiration. I have been fortunate to meet many people that have dedicated their careers to critical research and education. Seeing the impacts of climate change firsthand has been transformative for me. Glaciers that are millions of years old are melting at a fast pace. Sea levels are rising. Habitats of forests, deserts, grasslands, and wetlands are changing. This has inspired me to study engineering as a way to solve problems and create solutions that will enable improvements to our natural environment and the effects of climate change. I intend to study chemical engineering with a focus on clean energy. Various clean energy technologies offer exciting opportunities to help solve climate change challenges. Solar power, biofuels, and battery technologies are just a few examples of clean energy solutions chemical engineers will address. Protecting fragile environments is the best way to appreciate them. I will continue to visit amazing natural places to raise awareness of how special they are and pursue a career that will preserve them.

When thinking about nature I always remember this one story of a grandma passing while tending to her garden. What a weird way to die my friends would question, but in that same weird way I found it to be peaceful. Nature was something she loved and she passed doing literally what she loved and if I were to go I’d hope it’d be in a way meaningful to me. Now I don’t really have a garden at my house, but I do a few things for the peacefulness of nature as well. All throughout school since I was in elementary, I struggled with anxiety and bullying which turned into depression as I got older. To keep my mind off the heaviness of school and society I spent a lot of time outside just enjoying the things I couldn’t control because it gave me freedom. I would join little clubs where I could spend my free time, that participated in community service and planting flowers around the school. One time we even went to the Jemez mountains to plant baby trees after some wildfires, and to this day that has been one of my most monumental memories of nature. Just being in nature and enjoying the bright colors, warm feeling, and freeness of life big or small, I have found peace with the little things in the world. Nature has helped me overcome mental struggles throughout my life and the joy of helping out nature is an overwhelming feeling I can’t compare. Being in nature makes me happy and by taking care of our Earth and cleaning our communities makes me feel so proud knowing I’m doing something good for the more peaceful side of the world and the wildlife beyond our eyes.

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere” (Vincent van Gogh). When everything in my life seems to be going wrong I find comfort when I look outside the window and see there is still beauty in the world. Nature is so vast and ever-changing that there is always something you’ve never seen before. I love nature because it is grounding yet imaginative. Laying in the grass and looking at the clouds I am peaceful and clear-headed. But, it also feeds my lush imagination. Like, what if the clouds and forest switched places? You’d take your morning stroll through a puff cloud as a squirrel’s acorn fell from the sky’s tree. Flowers as big as trees and the moon looking down so very close. Nature is full of possibilities. The possibilities don’t end in the mind, they also stretch to paper. Art is a big passion of mine and nature pushes it strongly. I try to appreciate nature by capturing it in my sketchbook. The passing bird, the daisies swaying in the wind, and the gentle butterflies are examples of things I love to draw. There are many shapes, colors, and textures found in nature. One of my favorite things to do is to lay my quilt outside to sketch and paint the things around me. I’ll never get bored of anything I see in nature. “You’ll find my heart in the deepest of oceans, the highest of mountains, the tallest of trees,” (Christy Ann Martine). There is beauty in everything and it captivates my heart. I’m grateful for what the planet gives us and will continue to enjoy it. I’ll continue to capture nature onto my pages in the hope of it becoming as sublime as its muse.