It was in high school baseball where I received my first true mentorship. My head coach was perhaps the first person in my life who I felt put complete faith and belief into me. He convinced me to try out and I became his project. I spent a winter break during my freshman year learning all the mechanics where he positively reinforced me of my progress. Additionally, there were about 6 other coaches who equally were invested into my growth. A memory I will never forget is when one of the coaches came to practice over that winter break and gifted me a brand new infielders glove, to which up until this moment I had been using my sister's old softball glove. I was moved by this gesture and it drove me to give my coaches and team absolutely everything I had to show my appreciation for their welcoming towards me. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I would later also come to appreciate the potential my coaches saw in me once realizing that they were training me to be a shortstop. All those who play or watch the sport understand the difficulty and expectations of that position, so for them to have put that faith in me was highly gratifying. I think what I loved most about baseball was the ways in which it changed me. I had always struggled with experiencing failure and in baseball, errors are simply a part of the game. Initially it was hard for me. I took every error, mistake, and loss my team had as a result of my fault. However, with the help of my coaches, I came to realize that I had to learn to move on. Mistakes are always going to happen, and sometimes we won't always be in control of that, yet we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed by them. Mentality is key, this is a lesson that applies both on and off the field. Baseball taught me to persevere and learn from the mistakes so that I could improve myself. It taught me that if I continued to dwell on the past I would hold myself back from greatness in the future. Baseball also taught me the importance of community. My teammates and coaches drove me to want to be the best version of myself. It wasn't about being the best player on the team but holding yourself and your teammates accountable along with supporting each other. We became a family, protecting and caring for one another. It showed to me how important it is to surround yourself with driven and positive individuals. Our bonds went beyond just being teammates. Baseball gave me my first sense of belonging, that's why in my junior year when I became catcher and captain for the team I took it as my responsibility to give that same experience to all the new players. There is strength in community, it makes you become selfless and appreciate the people around you. In all, baseball made me into the person I am today. It helped me overcome the challenges I experienced dealing with failure but also dealing with loneliness. Baseball became a comfort and I try to recreate that same atmosphere everywhere I go now whether it's at university, work, or simply within my community. It promoted me to be competitive by putting in the time and effort it takes to achieve my goals and enhance my skills/abilities. Above all it made me into a leader, someone who is proficient on their own but finds greater pleasure in helping others grow.

To act as a purposeful, responsible and productive community member means to be genuine and principle in character. You shouldn't see community engagement or service as a task but rather a privilege. The act of giving and helping is not for the gratification, glory, or credibility. To be purposeful means to research and recognize the needs of your community and understand the best way to provide the resources and changes it desires. There must exist a true passion for your act of service with no expectation of anything in return. Thus we must act responsibly by holding ourselves accountable to the consequences of our decisions and true to the standards of the intended goal. By being both purposeful and responsible we achieve productivity. I plan to embody these qualities in my future by giving back to my community through my work. As a student, I've been fortunate enough to receive mentorship from both my instructors and peers. One resource I make constant use of is the learning center at my university that has provided me with numerous tutoring services. Thus, when approached with the opportunity to become a tutor/grader myself it only felt right that I accept and provide the same service and guidance I received myself. I acted purposeful and responsible with each task by ensuring I provided my students with the best feedback and advice I could give and sharing my own knowledge and experiences with them. Nothing is more important to community than increasing the knowledge of those around us. By becoming more educated we open the door to more innovation. Career wise I hope to spend time as an educator along with working for government agencies related to environmental sustainability and public health, thereby giving back to my community by using my skills to improve the quality of life for others and educate the future generations. Additionally, I hope to embody these characteristics through volunteering. One experience I've had is volunteering with the Bureau of Land Management at Fort Ord National Monument. It's here where I was first exposed to the topophilia a community can have for the environment. To many FONM is a place to make memories and take in the beauty of our earth. It represents family, friends, and joy making it something that should be shared with future generations. Thus, I hope to continue to be involved with agencies and organizations that center their focus around environmental restoration and preservation along with spreading awareness on how environmental health relates to human health and sustainability. It's my intent to be a part of the change for improving the quality of the earth and giving back to my community by protecting and caring for the environments they love.

The ocean is a place that has always felt like home. It has always sparked curiosity, comfort, and belonging within me. No matter what I always find myself drawn to it. I care about protecting our oceans because it is foundational for supporting the health of humans and nature. We all have something to gain from persevering and conserving our oceans and beaches. The pollution of our oceans is a social and environmental issue that we must address. For many like myself, there is a sense of topophilia for the ocean. It's a place to make memories and take in the beauty of our earth. It represents family, friends, and joy making it something that should be shared with future generations. Oceans encourage exploration for the unknown and drives us to build deeper connections with the environment which is important for physical and mental health. It also influences innovation and knowledge through discovering more about the systems of our world and the possibility for creating new medicines and technologies that can lead us towards developing a more sustainable way of life. Perhaps most importantly, ocean health is directly related to human health, our societies, and the health of our ecosystems. By protecting our oceans we would be taking a proactive approach towards also supporting the industries that rely on the resources we need from the ocean (materials, food, etc) that in turn support our economies, infrastructures, and well being. Additionally, by protecting our oceans we also protect its wildlife which are equally as important for sustaining human life. Marine animals and the conditions of their habitats is necessary for persevering the biodiversity of our oceans and its health. Marine organisms play a pivotal role in regulating the health our oceans by maintaining its natural order. When something like a keystone species is lost, we risk losing an ecosystem altogether and in quick time this could mean the complete loss of life in our oceans. Loss of life in the oceans would have detrimental impacts on our societies, and could potentially equate to our own demise. Thus, it becomes quite clear that humans are just as dependent on marine life as marine life is on us. Together, we mutually help protect each other. I plan to use my degree towards developing new solutions and methods for tackling the issue of ocean contamination. I'm particularly interested in researching the effects of mirco/nano-plastics on the environment and the health implications they pose for both marine and human life. I hope that in pursuing this kind of research I could assist in conducting environmental impact risks assessments, to be used as reference for advocacy and legislation directed towards ocean protections and regulations in support of preservation. My most ambitious goal would be to discover new technologies for addressing the chemical contamination of our oceans from marine debris, and developing strategies that would help support the natural bioremediation of our oceans.

It's no mystery that tackling the issues of climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity have no clear answer with any immediate resolution. However, I find nothing could be more rewarding than being part of the change. From a very young age I've always had a passion for helping others and making positive contributions to the world with the dream of one day making a true impact. It was upon learning more about the environment and ecology that I felt I had now found that medium. To restore and care for the environment means to improve the quality of life for all, both people and nature. Perhaps the most important step towards making change, I believe, is to promote a change in the narrative regarding the Anthropocene and influence people to bring down the ideological separation they have between nature and our societies. To execute such a change starts with making differences within yourself and your community. In my own personal life I've tried to implement more environmentally conscientious decisions. For example, in the past year I learned more extensively about the negative impacts of the meat industry from habitat destruction for grazing land, to the methane gas release from cattle, and how little of an energy transfer they provide for our bodies. For those reasons I have removed red meat from my diet. Although this is a personal decision, I believe increasing awareness and positively influencing others to do the same could eventually lead to a more large-scale change. Again, it’s about spreading awareness about the alternatives and supporting it with proof that it’s achievable. I’ve also taken a more proactive approach within my community. This past spring I spent time volunteering with the Bureau of Land Management at the Fort Ord National Monument. This location especially shows much of what I envision is necessary to create global change. In the Monterey community there is such a large topophilia and biophilia for this location that has led its people to engage with their environment and promote environmental health. It was at this site that I participated in a number of activities from grassland surveys, meant to assess the most effective methods for preserving grassland health, to native plant restoration with federally endangered species. As more people become involved and begin to care, the more change can be demanded on a legislative level. My goal as an ecologist is not only to learn more about the environmental intersectionality that exists between nature and people, but to conduct research in order to sway public opinion and promote legislative change. By continuing to research how strategies, such as protecting keystone species within an environment, can help promote the health of ecosystems and in turn benefit our own societies, I believe more will begin to feel as if the efforts in addressing environmental issues is not hopeless. It’s my own career goals to pursue a PhD in environmental science or environmental conservation, and take my knowledge to work for a government agency such as BLM, USGS, or NPS so that I can innovate new methods for studying our ecosystems and best understanding what helps them thrive so that we may incorporate those same systems within our societies. Eventually I would like to become a professor, contributing to the world by educating the future generations and still taking part in academic research.

A specific event that largely impacted my community, and even my own family, that made me realize the importance of flood management was in 2022-2023 when California experienced mass flooding from extraordinary amounts of rainfall. I am from a small town within Central California called Porterville, and in my town there's a river called Tule River. Prior to this event, this river had largely remained completely dry due to the extreme drought experienced in the area. In fact, it was notoriously catching on fire, causing huge eruptions and polluting the air. There was no true irrigation systems in place and access to the river was extremely easy given no part of the river, which traveled through the entire town, was barricaded off. For the large homeless population, the river and its underpasses served as their shelter. When the flooding began it was absolutely devastating. All the homeless encampments were destroyed and many individuals had to be rescued after being caught in the floods. Homes directly along the river were ruined, many getting completely flooded to the point that families had to be evacuated from their houses. Some of my own family members experienced this. Roads and other city infrastructure became largely damaged. The road to my mother's work had been destroyed, with an entire segment of the road completely breaking off and requiring constant escorting by public city workers. Farms also became extremely flooded which greatly impacted my community socially, given the majority of the population are migrant/immigrant workers who rely on working within the fields to support their families. Altogether this experience enlightened me in two ways. First it made me acknowledge the environmental injustice that had been done with my community, considering that the reason we were so heavily impacted was because of the general lack of concern and safety procedures in place along with highlighting the notion that minority populations tend to be most affected by these kind of catastrophic events. Secondly, it inspired me to pursue my passion in environmental health and safety. A goal of mine that I continuously work towards is giving back to my community and innovating new technologies to improve the livelihood of all people. Public service has always attracted me and I feel most proud in myself when I'm able to help others. Unique experiences and skills I bring to advancing floodplain management and protecting communities from the impacts of floods is largely attributed to my schooling. I have a background in social science (AA degree in this field) and now am pursuing a Bachelor's in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy with a concentration in environmental data analysis. What's unique about my program is that I learn not only the science based portion of earth sciences but the more social and political aspects of it as well. I have experience doing service learning working with the Bureau of Land Management, that I did in conjunction with a civic ecology course. Additionally, I have experience working with programs such as R studio and ArcGIS Pro all in relation to environmental conservatism. What's great about this, is that much of what I have learned and the skills I have acquired can be used for floodplain management. A future course I plan to take is environmental impact assessment course. An opportunity that I unfortunately had to turn down due to financial reasons was to work with the County of Santa Cruz Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience for Climate Resiliency. I mention this to highlight my drive for this field. Overall, I believe I can have a great impact in promoting protection against flooding.

To briefly introduce myself, I'm a young college student from a small town within Central California (Porterville, CA). I'm a first-generation Mexican-American with strong ambition to further my education all the way to the level of PhD. I'm a product of grandparents who spent their entire lives working in the agricultural fields and parents who grew up largely poor. My own father spent the majority of his life working in those same fields as my grandparents before making the life changing decision to join the Marines. My parents have always recognized the importance of education and the benefits it could give my sister and I, particularly the opportunity to live more comfortable and fulfilling lives. That instillment is what has led me to be the student I am today and why I believe I'm exactly the kind of recipient this scholarship aims to support. I would make a great candidate because I'm a highly driven and disciplined individual. Throughout my entire schooling career I have always held myself to the highest standard of academic excellence. By the time I completed high school I had already earned two associate degrees; one degree in the field of social science and the other a liberal arts degree in math and science. In both institutions I graduated with honors. While in high school I was also very engaged with my community. In my freshman year I volunteered in a local Boys & Girls Club (unfortunately stopped due to COVID). Additionally I held multiple officer positions in high school clubs along with participation in school sports. Now in university, I have continued my passion in community service by working with the Bureau of Land Management conducting projects related to native plant restoration and community outreach. My ultimate goal is to continue my schooling until I have earned a PhD degree in environmental science/health. I would like to use what I have learned to directly improve the health of my community and world by bringing greater awareness to the effects of climate change and the consequences of harming the environment along with developing solutions. I plan to accomplish this by spending time working for federal/state agencies directed towards environmental conservatism along with later becoming a professor myself to further teach the public and advocate for change. I additionally would like to engage with more international levels of agencies to push for greater policy reforms in support of positive environmental change. On a more community based level, I would like to run similar volunteer programs that I'm involved with at my university that focus on bringing nature back into the places we call home. Ultimately you can say that my true passion is environmental justice. Environmental justice is all about serving the very same underprivileged and ill supported communities that I come from, who suffer the consequences of environmental racism and classism. I would like to be a part of the change that promotes the growth and advancement of these communities and aid in improving the living standards of these places both socially/culturally and health wise. It's a fact that your zip code is the primary indicator of your life expectancy, it's my goal to change that for the better.