I believe nature is what connects us all. When I was younger, all I wanted to do was be out in nature. Whether that was sitting outside on the lawn with my Dad, playing with my Grandma and Grandpa at the park, dancing with my sister in the rain, and going out kayaking with my mom. I loved to be free and wild and as loud as I wanted because all there was, was open space. To this day I still love the natural world, I hike two or three times a week, walk everywhere, and when the Montana weather cooperates, I go paddle boarding, climbing, and camping with my friends. The natural world provides a sense of safety for me. I can always rely on it when I need a break from homework, my job, and anything clouding my mind. I can walk into nature, and be free of my worries. This feeling has brought me to study Environmental Science at MSU in Bozeman, MT. I want to pursue this feeling of safety nature provides me, and provide it right back. Our environment progressively has gotten worse throughout the years and I strive to protect it with everything I have, and learn more about it to keep Earth thriving. My dream is to work in a National Park, and I hope my education at MSU can provide me that experience to pursue it. I have always wanted to go to college, but my family was not the richest in the area. I lived in a single income household with my mother and sister, my dad is 100% disabled and relies on the VA for income, and I graduated high school early to pursue my eagerness to go to college. Graduating early cost me a year of working and saving up money, but I did it anyways to get started on my dream of learning about Environmental Science. In my junior/senior year of high school, I worked three jobs all while maintaining a gpa of 3.8 and taking two extra online classes additional to my eight in person classes. I strived to save up enough to move from Helena to Bozeman and get myself into college. I have paid all my tuition myself from working jobs and saving up everything I have. Getting this scholarship would help me tremendously as I am so grateful for my experiences in life so far, and doing this alone has been a really good opportunity for me to learn and grow into an adult, but a little extra help would take me even further in my education. Thank you for listening to my story and thank you for your consideration!