This is my cat Opps.(black/white) This picture was taken for my school yearbook class. We rescued him when someone dumped him off in rural NY two days before hurricane Sandy. We got him when he was about three years old and he is currently 13 in this picture. He also has two Maine coon siblings (Indy-brown/tan, Lilly-black) that we recused from the CNY cat Coalition. We also rescued Milo, our only short haired cat, a few month before Covid-19 hit. He practically scared my mother when she found him peering through our from glass door, with Opps staring right back.

I want to study environmental engineering in college. I want to do this because I am a girl going into a mainly male dominated field and no matter how many times people tell me I should not go that route because I am a girl I am because I believe in myself and the possibility of what I can do in this field. I want to go this way to prove to myself and others want to go into an engineering field that this is something you can do no matter your race, gender or sexual orientation. I also want to go into environmental engineering because the world has fallen into a detrimental loss as of lately. The climate needs help more than ever before this planet ends but being nothing at the end. I have learned so much more about the environmental needs of the planet over lockdown. I have learned that in the coming years we will no longer be able to reverse the damage we have done to our planet. Most importantly I have learned that there is a way to save it. If everyone does their part we will be able to save our planet for our future generations. Something as little as teaching how driving cars that use fossil fuels can hurt the planet then offer the alternative, being electric cars. If we as community, country and world come together to fight the environmental disarray that is currently happening we could save our planet. I want to become an environmental engineer to both prove to others that no matter who you are you can help the world by doing what you love and that if you put your mind to something nothing can stand in your way.

I want to see a change in the environmental future. To me personally it is outstanding that people have yet to realize how much we harm the planet we live on. Throughout time humans have learned how to use the planet's resources to help themselves however, this does not come without a cost. Humans have caused many animals to go extinct without thinking about it. There is only so much one person can do to combat these harmful side effects from years of over pollution and results from not taking care of our planets correctly. I have been making moves in my personal life to better the environment. For example I will be going to school for environmental engineering, this will be difficult for me however, it is something I am passionate about and believe I can help to make the climate better. I also have been vegetarian for almost three years now and hope to switch to being vegan shortly. I do this because it helps the overall spectrum and I hope to bring awareness to the subject. I also attend peaceful protests (before covid) to try to show lawmakers that the climate crisis is something to take seriously. Although I do not think that protecting our planet should be a political thing, I do believe that in order to get things done you may have to face things you disagree with. Once it is safe to do so again, I plan to go back to in person protests to continue to fight for what I believe in. I would love to see other people in my community rise up to combat these treacheries but I know that in my area where most people do not "believe" in science it may be harder to get such things to happen. When I face these alternatives I try to keep in mind that there are others around the world that agree with me and that this activism is worldwide. This really helps me keep in the right mindset when people start calling me a “tree hugger” at school. Which, I guess is supposed to be an insult but I have been called worse so it does not bother me as much as they think it does. I would love the country to realize that this is a change for the better if we could get the time reversed quick enough we may still have enough time to reverse the already fast acting effects that have started in the world. I believe around the world there are many other people who do their best to help the climate crisis by becoming vegan, driving electric using solar, just like I do my best to. Overall I would like to see a change in the environmental conservation efforts to make the planet a little more clean. We together could still fix the mess we have made by working to take bikes to school or work each day or trying to buy local instead of buying from the supermarket. Together through the community, country and world we can work toward a cleaner future and a more sustainable lifestyle to better the environment.