When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to go on a study abroad trip to Europe over the summer. My parents agreed to let me go, but required that I pay for half the cost of the trip, which was about $2000. For a freshman that had never had a job before, that was a lot of money, but the act of saving up money for that trip taught me an important lesson: Always live below your means. At the time, that meant at least half the money I would get from my lifeguarding job or babysitting would immediately go into savings for the trip, or paying back my parents after the fact, leaving me a little money left over to go out with friends and have fun. That savings plan I created at the time has now shifted into the most important aspect of my savings now. At least half of the money I make now still goes into my savings account, untouched. Since I make more money now and don't have a large international trip to pay for, that leaves a lot more money growing and gaining interest in my account. While the idea "live below your means" is a common personal finance lesson, the way that I learned it allowed me to shift my mindset, and has helped to prepare me for the future, especially when it comes to paying off college debt.

When I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to go on a study abroad trip to Europe over the summer. My parents agreed to let me go, but required that I pay for half the cost of the trip, which was about $2000. For a freshman that had never had a job before, that was a lot of money, but the act of saving up money for that trip taught me an important lesson: Always live below your means. At the time, that meant at least half the money I would get from my lifeguarding job or babysitting would immediately go into savings for the trip, or paying back my parents after the fact, leaving me a little money left over to go out with friends and have fun. That savings plan I created at the time has now shifted into the most important aspect of my savings now. At least half of the money I make now still goes into my savings account, untouched. Since I make more money now and don't have a large international trip to pay for, that leaves a lot more money growing and gaining interest in my account. While the idea "live below your means" is a common personal finance lesson, the way that I learned it allowed me to shift my mindset, and has helped to prepare me for the future, especially when it comes to paying off college debt.

I am studying Ecology at the University of Georgia. My main goals for the future all revolve around sustainability and improving the world for future generations. With a degree in Ecology and a certificate in sustainability I am hoping to get jobs focusing on shifting business ideas towards environmentally friendly options and becoming entirely carbon neutral or carbon negative, meaning they do more good for the environment than harm through cleanup efforts and funding. Out of college, I will apply to short term contracts collecting environmental data and doing field work for the government and companies that need employees willing to do field work. Eventually, I am going to start an archology (architecture + ecology) space, to teach myself and others how to live in a house and society using limited resources. I want to create a society where pockets of people are entirely self sufficient, reducing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and carbon emissions. Overall, my life goal is to create a world I would be happy bringing children, and their children, into. As it stands right now, the carbon footprint of the average American having a child is too large for me to justify it. My goals are considered out there and wishful thinking, but I believe many people want to live a more sustainable, eco-conscious life, they just don't have the resources to do so.

Our world is plagued with people who care too little, and here I am, caring too much. I am a huge advocate for sustainability and every person doing their part to help repair our planet. Since the industrial revolution, humans have been creating carbon emissions and toxic waste that is clearly ruining ecosystems. It started with the ozone layer, and now we are experiencing global warming, coral bleaching, and more. The biggest problem facing the world right now is that the world as we know it is changing and not enough people want to change their ways in order to save it. My life goals all revolve around healing the environment and teaching sustainability. When it comes to healing the environment, I want to focus on coral reefs and rainforests, two of the most important and biodiverse ecosystems in the world, providing homes to millions of organisms. Separate from my work in ecology, I want to teach sustainable practices to businesses and individuals so we can stop the rapid output of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Without changing our practices, humans will not be able to survive on earth for much longer (in the grand scheme of things) and a lot of the creatures we have come to love will go extinct. Within my lifetime I want to see the creation cities that are entirely self sustaining and the use of cars and fossil fuels significantly lower. Without making these changes, our children, and our children's children (and so forth), will grow up in environments much more hostile and saddening. They may never see the large sequoia trees, or the bioluminescent creatures of the oceans, two obvious examples of the wonders of our planet.

I am studying Ecology at the University of Georgia. My main goals for the future all revolve around sustainability and improving the world for future generations. With a degree in Ecology and a certificate in sustainability I am hoping to get jobs focusing on shifting business ideas towards environmentally friendly options and becoming entirely carbon neutral or carbon negative, meaning they do more good for the environment than harm through cleanup efforts and funding. Out of college, I will apply to short term contracts collecting environmental data and doing field work for the government and companies that need employees willing to do field work. Eventually, I am going to start an archology (architecture + ecology) space, to teach myself and others how to live in a house and society using limited resources. I want to create a society where pockets of people are entirely self sufficient, reducing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and carbon emissions. Overall, my life goal is to create a world I would be happy bringing children, and their children, into. As it stands right now, the carbon footprint of the average American having a child is too large for me to justify it. My goals are considered out there and wishful thinking, but I believe many people want to live a more sustainable, eco-conscious life, they just don't have the resources to do so.

1. I consider myself privileged in many ways, I am a white woman living in a suburb outside of Atlanta. I am not without struggle, however. I grew up going to a strict religious school, and have since come out as gay. The stark contrast between what I have been told my entire life and the way that I was born has created many a divide between myself and people I used to know, and without scholarships attending college will be significantly harder as some family members have been reluctant to help me pay for college. While the world's perception of LGBT+ people is becoming more positive, I am still excited to bring new diversity to the line of work I wish to pursue. Additionally, as a woman pursuing a career in STEM, I have already received odd comments and judgement from people who are used to more "traditional" gender roles. I am grateful to have been born in this time period, which more rights than those that came before me, but with that comes a responsibility to use my skills and knowledge to help the earth. 2. The first major barrier in my pursuit of conservation is college. I am attending the University of Georgia, an excellent but expensive school. Every time I visit home, I am reminded that without the Zell Miller Scholarship, I would have to transfer to a cheaper, and less fulfilling, school. Even with that scholarship, which only covers tuition, I am left to pay on-campus housing (required for first years at UGA), fees, meal plans, etc. I would be lying if I said the cost of college, and everything that comes with it, is not a major cause of anxiety in my life. 3. I have always felt connected to the earth. What started as pretending to be a forest fairy as a little girl has turned into camping with my friends, going vegan, reducing my waste, and more. When deciding what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I knew helping the earth and reducing/reversing damage humans have done to it would be a requirement. I have decided, due to the carbon footprint of having a single child, that I will not have a child of my own. Despite this, I still constantly linger on what-ifs. If I were to have a child, would I be happy raising them on a planet that is doomed? A planet that has lost so much color and diversity just in the last hundred years? And what about my grandchildren? Would there even be an earth left by the time they were trying to decide whether or not to have children? Honestly, fear lead me to pursue a career in conservation. Is it right for me to take luxuries for myself when future generations could be born into a wasteland? My goal is to create a world I am happy with, and while I doubt I will complete this within my lifetime, I believe getting the ball rolling is a good start. 4. I am currently an Ecology major at UGA. I plan on creating an emphasis within my major on marine ecology. I started college as an Ocean Science major, because I was told there was no Marine Biology major. After doing more research, I learned that the Ocean Science major is more based around the geological and chemical cycles of the ocean. While these are important, I knew I wanted a career more focused in the biological aspect of the oceans. My goal by pursuing a degree in ecology is to work on coral reefs, one of the most important ecosystems on earth. The death of coral reefs and the organisms that follow create major deficits of available nutrients in the ocean, which can decline the health of our planet as a whole. Additionally, I would love to study ocean algae, which have been growing in population numbers due to global warming, leading to the mass death of many marine organisms. Both algae and coral reefs are systems that must be kept in careful balance in order to preserve life on earth.