Recycling is not enough, it's not even close. Plastics are one of the most problematic resources that the world uses and unfortunately, the world has become reliant on them. Many people think that by recycling their bottles and milk jugs they are helping the earth. In the U.S., most recycled materials are often shipped overseas to other countries where materials like plastics are turned into non-recyclable plastic materials like polyester. Plastics must be phased out and replaced with other sustainable materials that can be better recycled. One of these materials that is a better alternative is aluminum. Instead of shipping off plastic bottles to be turned into cloth that will be thrown out once it is damaged, an aluminum can, can be recycled at certain recycling plants and put back on shelves in stores within two weeks. Other alternatives to plastic are being very rapidly as well, bioplastic, milk plastic, and mushroom-based material are only a few of many options that consumers are beginning to have access to as opposed to standard plastic. These new plastic alternatives are made out of sustainable resources and may prove one day to actually be cheaper than normal plastic. For these plastic alternatives to have any chance of succeeding, there needs to be global cooperation in incorporating them into everyday lives. Government incentives such as providing moving for companies using these could be a good start. However, unless these alternatives completely replace the unsustainable plastic made from oil, the earth will suffer and millions will die. Only through cooperation can we overcome this challenge and leave a better earth for future generations.

I stood there, over 11,000 feet above sea level, swinging my tools all day to help people I didn't know reach the peak. I am a member of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society for the Boy Scouts of America. Recently, I came back home from a trip where I, and many other Arrowmen from across the country, put all our efforts together to help complete a trail that would help future scouts summit one of the tallest peaks on the scout reservation where we were working at. This trail had been under construction for over 8 years at this point. I never knew who the previous scouts who worked on the trail were, I will also never know the future scouts who will use the trail. But I worked on this trail all week knowing this. Eventually, about 40 hours of trail work would be completed by all of the scouts at the end of the week. Trail work is incredibly demanding, to efficiently dig a trail, one must swing heavy tools such as pickaxes and sledgehammers to break away all the rocks and dirt from the path that one envisions. Once the dirt and rocks were loosened, they would have to be picked up and thrown over the side of the trail. I decided to put myself through this grueling work because I knew that I would be saving many other future scouts the trouble of hiking the much more difficult trail on the mountain. I did not benefit from building this trail, and I feel that this shows how well I embody selflessness because this experience shows how I am willing to help those that I don't know and that I will never know. This is just one of the examples that I could have used to show my selflessness, being a member of the Order of the Arrow allows me to always be able to find service that can help those I don't know. Some of these other examples of service include helping organize food drives for those in need, helping make birthday boxes for kids who cannot afford to pay for a birthday party, and helping to construct bridges for local trails in my town. Ever since I joined the Boy Scouts of America, I have always participated in service projects that helped people that I didn't know. I feel that true selflessness is found when someone helps others that they don't know. I feel that the majority of the service that I have done has helped mostly strangers and not people that I know.

I woke up in the middle of the night, freezing, but also white hot. It was the first night of the first camping trip I had ever led with my Boy Scout troop, and I was burning with excitement for the events to come. It was a frigid winter expedition, and many of the younger scouts I was leading had never been on such a trip before. There had been too much snow to light a fire, so many of us went to bed rather cold, but not me. One of the activities on the trip was a sled race against other scout troops. All the other troops would be working together to try to beat all the other teams. I couldn’t wait to start when I arrived at the camp. Unfortunately, after I reviewed the course, I decided that we didn’t have a sled fit for the competition. There was not enough time to build one when we had arrived at the camp the night before, and the weak plastic sleds we brought would surely shatter if we were to try to pull someone in it. We had to resort to one last-ditch effort to be able to compete. We would end up racing against the other teams in a tiny red wagon that we had used to transport our gear to camp. This was not the original plan; however, this allowed our team the chance to compete. The sled was extremely difficult to push along the course, and many of the other scouts were unable to run while pushing the sled. To combat this problem I organized people to swap between who was pushing the sled while others ran along the side to have a break. When we finally completed the race two times slower than the second-slowest team, we couldn’t help but laugh. We somehow were able to do a one-mile sled race using a tiny red wagon. Because of experiences like this, the scout motto “Be prepared,” has been seared into my mind. Every trip I lead reminds me of the importance of thorough planning, as well as allowing flexibility to adapt to problems that are likely to occur. One such problem occurred when I went on a backpacking trip up Mount Greylock. There was a younger scout who was struggling to keep up with the rest of the group. Because of this, the trip leader, Andrew, had to decide to slow down the pace that the entire group was moving at, to allow the younger scout to keep up. Many of the older scouts including myself were annoyed by this decision as we wanted to continue at our original pace because we felt we were strong enough to keep going. Andrew had to decide to make sure that we didn’t leave the younger scout behind, even if other scouts were unhappy with him. I learned that being a leader means that your job isn’t to make everyone like you but to make sure everyone is taken care of. From this experience and others, I ensured that the whole group I was in charge of for events was always on track. If a scout needed help with something, I would assign someone to help them. And if a scout wasn’t doing their fair share of work, I would light a fire under them to keep them on track.

For me, the only option for the best game to play with others is Super Smash Brothers, for me specifically, Super Smash Brothers Brawl. When I first got a Wii for Christmas when I was 6, it was one of the first games that I got for the console. I can remember countless hours playing with my friends. I had limitless fun trying to figure out what I could and couldn't do in the game. I remember being shocked when one of my friend's older brothers taught me techniques that completely changed the game. Super Smash Brothers became a way to connect with anyone because it's a video game that almost everyone has played before. Eventually, newer Smash Brother games came out and I stopped playing Brawl. But I still remember everything that I learned when I sit down and play the newer games with my younger brother. I smile when I think about how I get to teach him the skills that I've been learning for over a decade. Super Smash Brother is truly a timeless game that unites people of all ages. It doesn't matter if you've been playing for 20 years or 2, there is always something to learn within the game. And the best way to learn is to play with others.

My dream house would be a bright yellow house in New Zealand. It wouldn't be a mansion, but it would still be larger than the average house. One of the features it would have would be a garage that would store my dream car, a yellow Corvette. One room in my house would be a dedicated video game room, as video games are important to me. It would be complete with all the latest game consoles and custom controllers. Right next to it would be a storage room for my camping gear. And on the other side of the Game room would be an art studio. My house would have all of my favorite hobbies right next to each other, so I could easily pick what I would want to do that day. My house would be located right over a river so the water could flow through my house and I could go for a swim at any time I want. My house would also use a water mill, making the energy in the house sustainable. And last but certainly not least, there would be a large tower at the top of my house, which I could climb to the top of and enjoy the view of the landscape around me.

When I walk down the streets of a big city, it isn't the huge skyscrapers that catch my eye, nor is it the sounds of hundreds of car horns blaring throughout the streets. What I'll see first is the graffiti written on huge, blank, concrete walls. Or I'll hear the sounds of whatever instrument someone happened to be playing that day in hopes of getting donations from passersby. These sights and sounds are what make me excited to go into the city. These forms of art add personality to what would normally be a prison of concrete and glass. I don't necessarily want my art to make a huge change or be a political statement. What I want from my art and music is to make people's day less mundane. I want my art to show others my personality and help people see the world in a different light. Not necessarily using methods such as graffiti and street music, but still using methods that will help people see my art.

I stood there, over 11,000 feet above sea level, swinging my tools all day to help people I didn't know reach the peak. I am a member of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society for the Boy Scouts of America. Recently, I came back home from a trip where I, and many other Arrowmen from across the country, put all our efforts together to help complete a trail that would help future scouts summit one of the tallest peaks on the scout reservation where we were working at. This trail had been under construction for over 8 years at this point. I never knew who the previous scouts who worked on the trail were, I will also never know the future scouts who will use the trail. But I worked on this trail all week knowing this. Eventually, about 40 hours of trail work would be completed by all of the scouts at the end of the week. Trail work is incredibly demanding, to efficiently dig a trail, one must swing heavy tools such as pickaxes and sledgehammers to break away all the rocks and dirt from the path that one envisions. Once the dirt and rocks were loosened, they would have to be picked up and thrown over the side of the trail. I decided to put myself through this grueling work because I knew that I would be saving many other future scouts the trouble of hiking the much more difficult trail on the mountain. I did not benefit from building this trail, and I feel that this shows how well I embody selflessness because this experience shows how I am willing to help those that I don't know and that I will never know. This is just one of the examples that I could have used to show my selflessness, being a member of the Order of the Arrow allows me to always be able to find service that can help those I don't know. Some of these other examples of service include helping organize food drives for those in need, helping make birthday boxes for kids who cannot afford to pay for a birthday party, and helping to construct bridges for local trails in my town. Ever since I joined the Boy Scouts of America, I have always participated in service projects that helped people that I didn't know. I feel that true selflessness is found when someone helps others that they don't know. I feel that the majority of the service that I have done has helped mostly strangers and not people that I know.

I sat there, wide awake. I could barely feel my hands and feet. "why had I decided to do this?" I asked myself. Although, I already knew the answer to that. This was the first of three days that I had to endure to become a member of the Order of the Arrow, the national honor society of scouting. I always loved camping and the outdoors, this was something that I discovered when I joined Scouts BSA. But this ordeal was unlike anything I had ever done before. I and other OA candidates were asked to bring nothing but a tarp and a sleeping bag into the wilderness to sleep outside alone in the cold. Unfortunately for me, I had grabbed the wrong bag from my backpack. Instead of a nice warm sleeping bag, I grabbed my bag full of clothes. If I tried to put them all on, my body would start to lose circulation. I had to choose whether to quit right then and there, or endure the frigid night with just my tarp. I chose the latter. This ordeal taught me how to endure tough situations. If I had quit, I would not have joined the Order of the Arrow and I would not have been given such opportunities as a two-week camping trip to New Mexico organized by the OA. This scholarship will help me to obtain a higher education in the field of biology, helping me to better understand nature, which I love so very much. I will continue to look forward to the future with the mindset of "just keep going" because I have learned that you can't see a beautiful view, without working for it.

If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, it would be "The Penguin Lessons" by Tom Michell. The book describes the true journey of a foreign teacher in South America who finds himself taking care of a small penguin after finding it fighting for its life on a beach covered in oil. The penguin becomes a sort of pet to Tom as he ends up traveling around the continent with the small bird, eventually giving the penguin housing at the university campus where he was working. Eventually, after a whole year of taking care of the penguin, Tom finds a suitable colony to release his friend. Although the book mostly focuses on the antics of Tom and his penguin, the book can express its values on a lot of different topics, such as the problem of oil spills, or human and animal connections. The book describes the condition that Tom found the penguin in to be a tragedy, as he had to wade through hundreds of bodies of dead penguins just to save the one that was barely living. After the penguin had recovered from the oil spill, it became inseparable from Tom, showing that it had formed a bond with Tom. The penguin's actions show that animals can experience similar emotions to humans. This book will help the reader have a different reading experience as they might not have read a book based around the wild idea of getting a per penguin by saving from an oil spill. I believe that everyone should read this book because, as the title implies, people can learn many lessons from just a small penguin.

I see my dream version of myself in the future studying all sorts of different animals in all sorts of different environments such as the middle of deserts, the tops of mountains, and even the depths of oceans.