Growing up with a love for the outdoors and a deep respect for animals has shaped who I am today. Some of my earliest memories involve spending time with my grandparents walking in the woods, learning names of trees, listening to birds, and feeling a sense of calmness in nature that I couldn't find anywhere else. My family often explored the Adirondacks park, and these trips taught me how beautiful and fragile the natural world truly is. Being surrounded by mountains, forests and wildlife helped me develop a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of every living thing. These experiences planted the roots of my passion for the environment, conservation, and animal welfare.
My passion for animals began just as early. My mom always had a soft spot for injured or abandoned animals, and she passed that compassion onto me. Along with that, I have always had pets at my home. When I was very little, my family had two cats, a bearded dragon, fish, and a ball python. Growing up around these varied species of animals taught me proper care, responsibility, and handling.These skills continued to grow as my family adopted our pitbull pyrenees mix, Makani, and later rescued a stray cat who gave birth to three kittens, Poe, Lenore, and Cow Most recently, I adopted my lionhead bunny, Elania who has taught me more about daily care, enrichment, and the importance of understanding an animal's individual needs.
Even as a child, I took actions to protect the world around me in small ways, such as picking up garbage and seeking out ways to help animals, which has grown into a lifelong commitment to conservation, and animal welfare. As I got older, I began to understand that protecting the environment wasn't something I just enjoyed, but it was something I was responsible for.
Educationally, I have attended Pavilion High School for three years, and I am now a senior, balancing my academics with a two-year CTE program focused on animal care. This CTE program has deepened my love for conservation, with daily hands-on tasks such as maintaining habitats, providing enrichment, and learning about conserving the environment. I believe that I would be a good candidate for this scholarship because of my lifelong commitment to protecting and preserving the environment, my hands-on experience with conservation, and my dedication to using my education and skills to make a positive impact on the world. THis CTE program has also opened the door to community involvement. Joining Future Farmers of America allowed me to participate in events that strengthened my communication skills, teamwork, and understanding of agriculture and conservation. I’ve taken part in breed identification, tool identification, and math dosage testing. I have also practiced skills like IM injections and surgical pack preparation. These activities have helped me grow academically and personally.
Building on my passion for conservation and environmental protection, I am excited to continue my education at Paul Smith’s College, located in the heart of the Adirondack Park. There, I will pursue a bachelor's degree in Environmental Sciences over the next two-years. Attending Paul Smith’s will allow me to combine hands-on, field-based learning with classroom study, giving me the tools and knowledge I need to understand and protect natural ecosystems. Being immersed in the Adirondacks, a place I have always loved and explored, will provide valuable opportunities to study conservation, wildlife management, and sustainable practices in a real-world setting. This education will not only deepen my understanding of environmental science but also prepare me to make meaningful contributions to preserving the natural world I care deeply about. After I complete my degree, my goal is to take my civil service exam and join the Department of Environmental Conservation to preserve & conserve the beautiful planet that has shaped me into who I am today.
I believe I would be a strong candidate for this scholarship because I am committed to environmental conservation and upbringing. My accomplishments, education, and goals reflect a lifelong dedication to the world around me. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to continue my education at Paul Smith and move me one step closer to my goals.
As a kid, I grew up in the outdoors, flipping rocks for salamanders, fishing in the mountain streams of central Pennsylvania, and hunting in the woods behind my house. Now, as a senior in high school, the last thing I want to do is confine myself to sitting behind a desk in an office all day when I graduate. After all, I’ve been sitting at a desk every day for the past twelve years of my seventeen-year-long life. My dream for myself is to be able to work hands on in the environment to manage habitats, wildlife populations, and in doing so, be able to restore ecosystems to their former glory.
I have been blessed to have grown up in a household with two parents who are biologists. From a young age, I have been exposed to the wonders and joys of the natural world. Starting with exploring the woods behind my house and learning all the best spots to flip logs to find spotted salamanders, to hiking the Adirondacks with my family, and even getting lost in the Catskills while fishing. Every adventure has brought more interest in the environment and a love of seeing, finding, and interacting with wildlife. Thanks to my parents, I have had some chances and wonderful opportunities to experience and help with wildlife surveys and studies such as Mussel surveys in the Susquehanna River, trout shocking in Catherine Creek, and hellbender restoration surveys done in Butternut Creek by DEC biologists and professors from Lycoming College and SUNY ESF. During the electro-fishing survey of Catherine Creek I was able to measure, weigh, and determine the sex of rainbow trout traveling upstream from the great lakes to spawn. We caught over two hundred trout in about a three-mile stretch of stream. Each of these experiences was thrilling, however, my favorite was working with eastern hellbenders in projects done by a partnership between NYS DEC, Lycoming College, Bronx Zoo, and the Upper Susquehanna Coalition. We were snorkeling for eastern hellbenders in one of the few streams that still hold them in New York State. That day, we caught four hellbenders out of nest boxes that had previously been installed. These were the first hellbenders caught out of the stream in years. I remember the biologists allowing me to hold and help record the length of the adults they had found and tag them with a PIT tag. Because of these experiences, my interest in conservation has only increased. In order to continue sharing and learning more about my passion for the outdoors, I plan on getting a four year degree in environmental science and eventually a master’s degree in wildlife conservation.
Some of my best memories come from exploring and learning everything I could about the outdoors while hunting and fishing with my dad, as well as hiking with my mom and siblings. I have my family to thank for my love of the outdoors, and most of my current knowledge of it as well. Humans have made mistakes in the past. We have taken natural resources and damaged other species as well as ourselves, however, just as wildlife has been equipped with the tools they need to survive, humans have been equipped with intelligence and ingenuity. As time goes on, we have developed new technologies and new ways to reverse damage done to the environment. Already we have come up with ways to help endangered populations of plants and animals grow again with the Endangered Species Act passes in 1973. Many once endangered or extirpated species have seen promising improvement due to coordinated efforts between state wildlife management agencies and local sportsmen’s groups. The river otter reintroduction project in the late 90s in the Southern Tier of New York is a great example of these cooperative projects. Because of this project, river otters have successfully been brought back to areas they once thrived. Since then, they have repopulated the rivers, marshes, and small lakes of New York State. Science has found ways to reverse chemical damage to environments as well, such as the effects of acid mine drainage. Scientists have begun trying to revive and restore dead streams to the healthy, working ecosystems they once were. There are still mistakes made, but people have the ability and tools to fix them. We have the ability to positively affect and manage wildlife populations. As a part of this world and as someone who loves the outdoors, it is my goal, and my dream to continue the work done by past and current conservationists and wildlife biologists to keep their efforts alive for future and current generations to enjoy. I want to see species like the eastern hellbender return to streams in my hometown, and wild trout populations continue to climb to a point where we no longer have to stock them to provide a great fishing experience. Through my work, I hope to find new and affordable ways to preserve the environment so the next generation may be able to experience the wonders of nature as I was able to.
