The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to a screeching halt. Everything from weddings to sporting events to school was canceled. Major cities went on lockdown not allowing anyone to go outside except for food and medicine. Many people lost their jobs and businesses had to close down. Some people panicked and hoarded food and cleaning supplies. While others discounted the reports and defied orders to stay in their homes. The news was filled with infection rates and reports of people dying and food shortages. The world was filled with uncertainty and the future looked very bleak. After months of uncertainty, science brought us hope for the future in the form of vaccines. Anything new is always met with some skepticism. When the Polio and Small Pox vaccines were first developed, many people were leery of taking them also. Now Polio and Small Pox are almost unheard of because of medical science. With the development of Covid-19 vaccines, the world has started to recover not only from physical illness but also from economic uncertainty. Businesses are reopening. Weddings and concerts are happening again. The elderly and those with compromised immune systems that were stuck in isolation are able to hug their loved ones again. Schools and Universities have reopened their doors to educate the next generation of scientists. Science and specifically the development of the Covid-19 vaccine gives me hope that the future will be better and that the global pandemic will end. I have hope that the scientist will be able to eradicate the virus and protect us against any variants or mutations as well. Scientists, not only in the medical field but in other fields give me hope that when the world is facing devastating problems, there is a solution that can be found to give us all a better and brighter future.

I want to pursue a degree in higher education in order learn the tools necessary to protect the oceans and aquatic animals. I would like to study marine sciences and preserve the oceans and marine life because the Oceans and their ecosystems are vital to the continuation of life on earth. I have always loved the water. At the age of 10, the minimum age limit, I became a certified open water scuba diver. As I have aged, I have had the opportunity to take more advanced scuba instruction and by the age of 16, had more than 110 open water dives logged. My family and I went scuba diving every summer, until Covid-19 put a halt to travel. I have seen some amazing and beautiful things while diving. I have been in ship wrecks and seen how they have turned into artificial reefs sheltering fish. I have had the opportunity to dive with sharks, sea turtles, sea horses and seen many beautiful coral reefs. I have even been inked by a startled squid on a night dive. While diving in Roatan, there was a group tagging and studying sea turtles at the dive shop we used. I was able to lean more about the efforts to tag and protect the turtles. I have also seen first hand dead and dying coral and marine life struggling to survive. I have seen where ships have dragged their anchors through coral reefs killing the reef in that area. When coral dies it is bleached white and where there should be schools of fish on a thriving reef, there is nothing. I am passionate about saving sharks and educating people that they are not the killing machines that Jaws would have you believe. I hate watching nature shows the depict sharks as mindless killers. I would like to study marine sciences to help ensure that marine species and the Oceans I love are healthy and sustainable for generations to come. In addition to scuba diving, I also play baseball. I started with little league and advanced to playing on select summer travel teams. The select travel team taught me some self-reliance and money management. The team travels in a van, stays in hotels and dines together with just the coaches, no parents. The parents can attend the games of course, but the rest of the time you have to take care of yourself and mange money for meals. I also played Junior Varsity for my high school as a freshman. Baseball was cancelled completely, along with in person school my Sophomore year due to the pandemic. Luckily, this year for my Jr. year, baseball is allowed again and I made the Varsity team. We already secured a spot in the playoffs.

The population of the earth is growing faster than our resources will be able to sustain. It is important for people to get involved in their communities to help protect our natural resources. I am particularly interested in preserving our streams, lakes and our oceans. I live in a community on the north shore of Lake Travis in Texas. I have grown up, fishing, swimming and boating on the lake. In order for all to enjoy the lake, both now and in the future, we need to come together and protect it. I have always loved the water and I have been a certified scuba diver since the age of 10. The scuba community does a Lake Travis clean up every year. Scuba divers pick up trash and tires thrown into the lake. As soon as I was old enough, at age 15, I joined about 50 other divers to clean up Lake Travis. We dive down and use a search and rescue grid pattern to pick up bottles, cans, plastic bags and other items that have accidently dropped out of boats or that have been purposefully dumped in the lake. There are lots of interesting items pulled up from the bottom of the lake from sunglasses and jewelry to cellphones and drones. One year even an old car was brought up with a tow line. The effort had to be halted last year, due to Covid-19, but I will also participate in the clean up this year and in the future. I would like to study marine science and either study marine wildlife or marine construction to protect animals and their ecosystems. I would make sure structures built in or near waterways are done so as to have minimal impact on the environment. I would use this knowledge to ensure the ever present urban spread doesn't negatively impact the lake I grew up spending my weekends and summers enjoying.