“Shooter buck” were the first words my dad whispered to me while we were hunting together on the opening day of archery season of 2016. I saw it walking towards us. It became the first deer I ever harvested. Harvesting that 7 point was not only an achievement, but a trigger that set my appreciation for wildlife in motion. That appreciation has grown significantly, with the harvesting of multiple other deer, attending my college classes, and spending so much time outside. My love for the outdoors started at a young age, thanks to my parents. I started fishing and hunting as soon as I could, and have been doing so ever since. Hunting, especially, has given me an appreciation for wildlife that cannot be learned or taught any other way. During high school I realized I could have a career focused on the environment. Throughout college I have come to realize I want more than just a job in nature; I want to make a difference. In my future environmental conservation career, I want to help find, prevent, and solve environmental problems. This could be in the form of multiple different jobs, but right now I am interested in wildlife technician and wildlife biologist positions. I am committed to helping wildlife and their ecosystems, which are some of the most important factors to life on earth, including humans. Healthy wildlife populations contribute to having stable ecosystems, which in turn provide humans with everything we need. Clean air and water, healthy plants, pollination, and carbon sequestration are some of the benefits of having healthy wildlife populations. Without stable wildlife and ecosystems, humans suffer. There is low air and water quality, food shortages, and societal backlash. By having a future career in environmental conservation, I intend to do my best to improve the environment for all creatures – wild animals and humans. At the end of the day, the most important things are the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, and shelter we have. That is why I believe it is so important to have a healthy and stable environment. My mission is to identify issues negatively impacting our wildlife, seek ways to mitigate those issues, and implement steps to improve our collective world. By doing so I believe I can make lasting differences and give future generations the same opportunities I had throughout my life. I want them to experience the beauty of nature, calmness of a river, and innocence of wildlife that I have been fortunate to experience.

Phia Gladieux is my favorite athlete to cheer for on Team USA. This year she started playing with the United States Field Hockey Women's National Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She did an incredible job, especially in her first season with them, got a lot of playing time, and will be continuing her career with them. She grew up in Pennsylvania, played for five seasons with Penn State Field Hockey, and has a tremendous amount of accomplishments to her name while playing there. I cannot wait to continue to watch what she does for the rest of her field hockey career. I relate to her in a few ways, but she is mainly just a tremendous role model for me. We are both from Pennsylvania, started playing field hockey at a young age, played field hockey in college, use the TK Black Elephants stick, and have a burning passion for this sport. Because of these similarities, I find it relatively easy to look up to her. Knowing the immense amount of training, practicing, and dedication I put in over the years to become a Division III athlete, makes me respect what she had to endure to get to the USA Team. She carries herself with so much grace and confidence, on and off the field, but is not cocky about how great of an athlete she is. That is one of the best qualities a professional athlete can have, in my opinion, to be great at what they do and stay humble about it. Gladieux is a great advocate for women in sports and loves to meet and encourage young athletes. She inspires many young field hockey players to set goals, reach for them, never give up, and always have fun. I believe this is a critical part of reaching your best athletic version of yourself. No matter how far you get in your athletic career, it is about what you can prove to yourself and the journey along the way. I think that is what Gladieux advocates for, and I look up to her for that. She is a fantastic athlete with the heart it takes to show the rest of the nation it is all about having fun at the end of the day. Having fun is the most important thing; without it, nothing else matters.