I have had a passion for the arts and watercolor ever since I was a little girl, however, my love of watercolor grew in my high school years for a very special reason. My grandparents live over nine hours away from me, so unfortunately, I am only able to see them a couple of times a year. My grandfather, who passed away this year, had Alzheimer’s disease, so my grandma was always stressed, worried, or tired because of caring for him. Because of this, sometimes it was a challenge for me to spend quality time with her on our visits. But my grandma loves watercolor painting, and she is quite talented at it, so we began a tradition that every time I visit, we would set time aside to do at least one watercolor painting together. Sometimes we would choose to do a video tutorial from the YouTube channel Let’s Make Art, but other times we would just choose a subject we both liked, and then we painted. During this time of watercolor painting, we would catch up on all that was going on in my busy high school life as well as encourage each other in our painting and give each other tips to help us improve. Even now, as my grandpa is no longer with us, and visits are not quite the same because of that, I still look forward to the time I spend painting with my grandma and laughing at our silly mistakes. And while these memories matter more to me than the skills I learned during these times, I am excited that I can apply these watercolor painting skills to my career. I am pursuing a career in ornithology, and as a research ornithologist, I can use my watercolor painting skills in the field through nature journaling that documents bird behaviors and plumage differences. My goal is to conduct conservation research to ensure that our incredible birds thrive for future generations to enjoy for years to come. My first watercolor sample is one I did with my grandma of an Iris, which is one of her favorite subjects to paint. The second sample is of a blue door, which I was inspired by from a painting I saw of a similar blue door, and I really wanted to paint it because of the mystery and charm I saw in these beautiful blue doors.

For as long as I can remember, animals, both domestic and wild, have been a key part of my childhood and college life. My love of the great outdoors and wildlife stemmed from two things. The first was the PBS Kids show Wild Kratts, which my brothers and I watched every morning at 7:30 throughout elementary school. From this show, I learned a lot about the animals that live all over the world, including the beauty of all kinds of creatures, whether scaly or furry. The second thing that impacted my love of animals was my family’s long camping trips all over the continental U.S. to national and state parks. On these trips, which usually were three weeks or longer, I had the opportunity to not only explore various ecosystems but also gain a greater appreciation of wildlife and their coexistence in creation. From these two things, my love of nature and wildlife grew exponentially, but my focus shifted to a specific class of animals – the Aves. When I was thirteen, I started to feed the birds in my backyard. This led to my discovery of citizen science projects like Project FeederWatch and eBird through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Through programs like these and continued travels with my family, I added more bird species to my life list, and I was hooked on birdwatching and the world of ornithology. Through eBird, I challenged myself to go birdwatching every day, and today I still have that streak of over 2,000 consecutive days without missing one. I also worked hard to earn money for a professional camera, and I have entered the world of wildlife and bird photography, which I greatly enjoy. Today, as a rising college sophomore, I am majoring in Conservation Biology and Spanish, and I am working toward the Associate Wildlife Biologist certification through The Wildlife Society. My goal is to become a research ornithologist with a focus on conservation research efforts to protect birds for future generations to enjoy and to find that sense of awe that I was blessed to have growing up. Additionally, I would like to return to college as a professor to continue my research efforts through an institution, as well as challenge and encourage the next generation of zoological scientists in their pursuit of making a positive impact in the animal world. Regarding my research goals, I am very interested in pursuing research on either owls, specifically the Northern Saw-Whet owl, or on breeding bird populations and how we can improve breeding bird numbers to aid in efforts of reducing bird declines. At the end of the day, whether I pursue this specific ornithological research or another type of ornithological research, my goal is to share with other scientists and the wider world how incredible nature and its creatures truly are, and that we must strive to protect them so that our children and grandchildren may enjoy the beauty of the fish of the sea and the birds of the air just as I had the opportunity as a young girl.

In our world of rampant social media and the hyper focus on oneself, a simple random act of kindness is something that is becoming rarer to find. One simple act can change someone’s day in ways that make a greater impact on the world, and yet those simple acts are so hard to find. In my life, these acts of kindness and the time people spend helping me have impacted me in so many ways and are the reason I have been able to overcome a challenge or valley in my life. As someone who is very people-oriented and who strives to help those around her, I have found myself setting aside the to-do list and reaching out to a person in need of encouragement. Sometimes they just need a friend to talk to, others are seeking advice, and still others need an encouraging push to overcome the challenge looming ahead of them. Starting freshman year in fall 2025, I did not know how much I would embody selflessness to help those around me, but as the year progressed, I found myself becoming the person that others sought out when needing advice or having a bad day, especially with the girls on my freshman dorm hall. One example is a girl who lived two doors down from my room. At Grove City College, orientation week is packed full of so many activities that new freshmen go to bed completely exhausted from the day’s events. This girl, an introvert, was very overwhelmed with it all, and she was having trouble connecting with others and making new friends. On top of that, she developed pneumonia that plagued her for the first three weeks of school. As I grew to know her more, I began to learn that she was in a dark place in her life and struggling a lot with self-worth. Numerous times when I was doing homework in my dorm, she would come in, and with just one look at her face, I would stop what I was doing to ask what was wrong, encourage her, give her advice, and be there for her. Sometimes these conversations lasted hours, which meant that sometimes I had to sacrifice sleep and relaxation time to get all my homework done and maintain my grades. Things got so bad for her that I had to take a step to get our hall’s resident assistant, as well as a counselor, involved to ensure that she obtained the resources she needed to overcome this dark season. With time and constant encouragement, she is now in a much better place, and we have a beautiful friendship. Another example involved someone whom I first did not know well, even though we were in the same Spanish classes. In our conversations, she started to talk about the issues between her and her boyfriend, and one day, she was knocking on my door in tears. They had broken up, and she was struggling with it and her anxiety. I found myself setting aside the task I was working on and spending the next couple of hours listening to her, encouraging and advising her, praying over her, and then taking her mind off the matter with a game of Spanish Scrabble. Through both of these specific instances, and numerous others over the past year in particular, I have learned what it means to truly be selfless and seek to help those in need around me because people matter more than grades or accomplishments, and I want to continue to strive to help those around me in college and beyond.

My chosen field of study is ornithology. Since I was little, I've loved wildlife, sparked by my family's travels and the PBS show Wild Kratts. However, it was always birds that made me wonder. In May 2020, just after the COVID-19 pandemic began, I started filling bird feeders in my yard with seed. Each day, more birds came to my feeders, and I would watch them, wondering what made each species different or how they could eat so much! I started participating in citizen science programs, such as eBird, which I have continued with a consecutive birding streak of 1,900+ days. As the years passed, I participated in more citizen science projects, such as Project FeederWatch and NestWatch, and researched how to turn my love of birds into a career. Now, as I begin college, my major is Conservation Biology, and pursuing the Associate Wildlife Biologist certification through The Wildlife Society, so I can become a research ornithologist and work towards the conservation and protection of my feathered friends. Through internships and classes I am striving to obtain, my goal is to leave college with more questions about the birds around me and help protect birds for future generations.