Plastic consumes our daily lives, from the food to the computers and phones we spend hours using. Plastic has driven humanity to a new age of technological advancement while driving our ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them to extinction. Plastic has allowed for easily packaged items and infinite manufacturing methods compared to metal and glass. The downside is single-use plastics. Water Bottles and Wrappers. These plastics end up in our waterways, soil, and bodies. Every year since I was six, I have gone fishing with my grandpa in the Florida Keys, sitting on piers, bridges, and beaches. It is disgusting that I have had the experience of removing plastic from a mangrove snapper's teeth. This made it clear to me how much debris affects our ecosystems. One of my biggest goals is trying to find a more sustainable way of life. This experience has also strengthened my goal to become a marine biologist and help with conservation and studying ocean life. Our world is so caught up in technology that people don't see plastic's damage. But there is so much more to see. The Great Barrier Reef, for example, has significantly decreased in size due to plastic debris killing shallow water organisms by either introducing diseases to certain species, animals ingesting floating plastics, or the fact that plastic chemicals leach into the water, causing the water in that area to be polluted. My dream agency, which I hope to work for one day, is the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). I will be attending the University of Miami this fall to study marine biology and environmental law in hopes of getting hired as a fisheries manager in Florida or working as a conservation officer for the FWC or other organizations. I am most interested in FWC due to Florida being a hub for diverse tropical and subtropical species. Florida is also the most fragile ecosystem in the United States, with dying coral in reefs and reduced water flow in the Everglades. I want to be a part of the effort to help preserve what makes Florida unique. I share some of my most valuable memories with my grandpa in Florida, which makes this issue much more personal. As a marine biologist, I want to take part in beach cleanups and use my degree to help monitor and find ways to sustain fragile aquatic ecosystems. The world may be more expensive and less efficient without most single-use plastics, but the health and longevity of the place we call home should mean much more, and I want to make sure I contribute all that I can.

The obsession started young. It started by watching football with my dad on the couch cheering on his beloved Fighting Irish or screaming at the Detroit Lions season after season. I started playing flag football in second grade and then moved to tackle football in fourth grade. It was more than an afterschool activity. The game shaped who I am, it taught me discipline, teamwork and most importantly of all it taught me resilience. Football isn’t about individual talent. It’s a team sport and every player is accountable for the team’s overall success. I learned that from a very young age playing for the Lakeland Broncos Youth Program. We were coached by a group of dads, mine included, who taught us to be the very best versions of ourselves. They refused to play “daddy ball” and made sure that every player earned their starting spots. They taught us that success had to be earned through effort regardless of the name on the back of the jersey. What made “Lakeland Blue” special was how much our coaches believed in every single one of us. We finished our 5th grade season undefeated with a championship trophy. We repeated as Champions our 6th grade year with only one loss. In 7th grade we lost part of the season due to COVID-19. Once restrictions were lifted we once again were undefeated that season but the league decided not to award a championship. Our 8th grade year, we lost one game, unfortunately it was the one that mattered the most and finished the season in 2nd place. We were a brotherhood bonded by the belief that together we can accomplish anything. Most of our team stayed together in high school and to this day we carry on the belief that we are better together. Football has taught me that success comes from consistency and accountability. I learned about leadership and how to handle setbacks with integrity. Both were tested in ways I didn’t expect my junior year when I broke my 4th metacarpal during a practice requiring surgery to place pins and K-wire. In an instant, the season I trained for, my starting position on varsity was taken away from me. I was heartbroken, and sitting on the sidelines with my hand in a cast watching my teammates play the game I loved was one of the hardest things to do. I still attended every practice and game, I went to film on Saturday morning, and cheered my teammates on from the sidelines. This injury forced me to look past the playing field and how your attitude when times are tough defines who you are as a leader. One of my mom’s many pregame texts is “hustle, hit, never quit.” It can be applied to football, but it can also be applied to life in general. You have to work for what you want, achieving your dreams is not always going to be painless and most importantly you have to believe in yourself to achieve. Football may be ending for me in a few weeks, but the lessons will stay with me forever.