I chose my field of interest - Wildlife Biology - just before I started high school, fueled by my deep lifelong love for all animals and my passion for doing whatever I can to help the plethora of life forms and species that share this earth with us. My other closely tied passion lies in climate activism - in the field of Wildlife Biology, hearing about the risks of climate change and the race we are currently enduring is a daily occurrence - and helping endangered wildlife and people continue to survive and thrive on this earth is directly linked to our ability to stop climate change and mitigate the current effects. Despite the fact that I have not yet had the privilege of witnessing numerous exotic species in their wild habitats, knowing that they exist is enough, the thought that with a simple vacation, I could witness these majestic species in the wild is something so many people (myself included) at times take for granted. But, what we do here and everywhere in the world still impacts those species in far-off international territories, and these animals are just as at risk of climate change in their natural habitats as the iconic Pikas and Marmots here in my home state of Colorado. I still recall declaring to my parents at the young age of seven that I "wanted to save the world", I had virtually no idea of how to do so or if it was even possible. My aspirations were constantly evolving and I contemplated the issues of homelessness, food insecurity, extinction crisis, climate change, and various social justice and animal welfare issues. However - with extensive research - I recognized that there was one issue that was quickly compounding all of the various other issues I was passionate about addressing. As viable agricultural land becomes depleted and climate shifts, food insecurity is an increasing problem, land for further home developments is shrinking with rising waters and inhabitable heat, extinction is running rampant with climate-led threats at the top of the list and social justice issues such as environmental justice are compounded by unsustainable technology that should be replaced by renewable, clean energy sources. Getting people to care and take action on the front of climate change is no easy feat, but it is one I am willing to take along with the countless others fighting for change across the world. For me, that means bringing to light the issues of climate change for wildlife and animals to encourage actions that will truly make a difference for all of the issues I'm passionate about addressing. If there is one worldwide problem that we must address to save the world, it's climate change - and through my passion for animals, making a difference, and that childhood dream of "saving the world", I have been able to find inspiration and my path to achieving my goals, a path that I know will lead me to success. Thank you for your consideration!

Books have always been an immense part of my life - from the stapled illustrated pages in the learning books I would bring home from Kindergarten to the endangered species books occupying the bookshelf in my bedroom to the numerous volumes of Erin Hunter's "Warriors" that could be found persistently at my side throughout middle school. My parents - both avid and skilled readers - would frequently read to me as a child. At night, my Mom would read the Magic Kitten and Nancy Drew stories to me as I fell asleep, and my Dad would read me a multitude of children's stories from my volumes of Disney Bedtime Stories as well as books from his own childhood collection. That love of reading and listening to stories has followed me to this day. Recognizing the many doors reading could open, I worked hard to be the best reader I could be. In third grade, my teacher told me that I was already reading at a high school level, my accomplishments in reading continued as I was immediately placed into Honors Language Arts in high school based on my grades and performance in Middle school. My love for reading and writing has become a strongly ingrained hobby of mine from scientific books to fictional mystery and horror stories, but beyond the sheer enjoyment of reading, it has also had a profound impact on my life and career goals. In Elementary school, I became very interested in endangered species and decided to begin researching them and the struggles they face. My parents purchased me several books about Endangered species comprehensive with profiles of threats and steps individuals could take to help them. I credit those books in large part for further fueling my desire to save animals and helping me find a more precise direction so long ago - a path I am currently pursuing as a Wildlife Biology major. In recent years, I've discovered several books that have continued to guide and focus my efforts. The most impactful thus far being; "Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation" by Paul Hawken which lays out an intensive yet logical plan to solving the vast majority of climate and extinction issues currently faced in the world, his scientifically based and hopeful vision for the future have helped me find inspiration in knowing that it is not too late, while still instilling a passionate sense of urgency. But Wildlife Biology is not the only career I plan to pursue, as a child I also had several books about significant animals in history and working dogs, those books detailed the stories of bomb detection dogs, search and rescue cats, service dogs, and emotional support cats on military bases. I discovered my passion for animal training at four years old when I trained my first cat to perform a plethora of behaviors on cue for my parents. But, those books showed me a whole new level of training and teamwork with animals that I could aspire to, currently, I am working to gain the experience I need to start my own animal training business in the near future. My childhood aspirations in reading have truly opened numerous doors for me, and now - with a clear vision for my life based partially on the stories I've read - I am well equipped to continue writing my own life story by pursuing my dreams of animal training and wildlife biology. Reading is a lifelong love of mine at this point, and I look forward to all of the new inspiration, mystery, thrills, and fantasies to come.

My name is Marissa Fuhrmeister, I am currently pursuing my degree in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University with my primary career goal being to travel internationally working to conserve endangered species through community-led and focused conservation and sustainability efforts, primarily through the education and empowerment of local people to allow them to take conservation into their own hands from a grassroots level. I have a lifelong love for animals of any and all kinds and seek to dedicate my life to helping animals and the people who care for them. Animal training is another passion of mine, and I am currently working to gain field experience in animal training to eventually open my own business focused on positive reinforcement training in a variety of mediums from enhancing the human-animal bond through training sports such as agility for both cats and dogs, adventure cat training, training service dogs, and helping with behavioral modification for all species. Advocacy is very important to me and a passion for service, doing the right thing, and stepping up when you're needed has been inspired from a young age by the acts of my parents who are always willing to lend a helping hand whenever possible - for both people and animals. For the past decade, my family and I have cared for multiple community cat colonies providing food, shelter, and spay/neuter surgeries. But through our work as community cat caretakers, we've witnessed the immense cruelty directed towards these cats. This has led me to currently be in the planning stages of founding my own cat welfare non-profit directly to address this cruelty through legislative action and unity among cat lovers and caretakers as well as provide sanctuary to displaced colonies and help caretakers receive the resources they require to care for their cats. I began volunteering in High school and immediately it sparked a newfound mission for me since then I've expanded my volunteer work to an extensive and still expanding set of volunteer obligations from working one-on-one with farm animals providing enrichment and cooperative care training and helping with care tasks, to habitat restoration efforts, and soon training dogs through positive reinforcement training to increase their adaptability at a local animal shelter. Volunteering and community service have become an important part of my life and knowing that I can make a difference for animals and people almost immediately is encouraging. My volunteer work is not only fulfilling and inspiring, but it also helps provide me with a purpose aside from school and academics. I am hoping to continue to expand the work I do and have many causes I hope to get involved with for both people and animals, this scholarship would be an immense help for me in pursuing my educational goals by helping me secure the money I require for my education and allowing me to focus on my academics, the multitude of opportunities at my University, and give me the freedom to pursue further community service efforts.

Travel can open your eyes to new realms, cultures, ways of life, schools of thought, and forms of expression, many of which can give you the gift of looking at life and your own ways and culture from a different perspective. Living in the "melting pot" of cultural experiences, beliefs, and religions that is America has allowed me to come into contact with several other cultures and gain a better understanding of their way of life. Stepping back and analyzing your own life and perspectives from this point of view can lead to personal growth and knowledge of the world around you. For example, for the past two years, I've volunteered at a farm animal sanctuary owned by a couple from India who founded the sanctuary based on the principles of "Ahimsa" generally meaning having kindness to all living things, and advocating that everyone live their lives without the taking or impeding of the lives of others - not just people but any living creature. This encompassing language of all life forms is largely relatable to me as I believe that all life should be respected and cherished - human or animal. Looking at my own religion (Catholic), from this perspective has allowed me to analyze how much the language in the bible and teachings deals largely and in many cases solely with your treatment of other people, not animals. Through my research, studying, and discussion with people of various cultures, I've come to realize that many Christian religions have abandoned the emphasis on nature and animals that many other cultures and religions still cherish. While still a Catholic, I do have a deep and equal respect for nature and animals as for people, and believe that each of God's creatures are his children and should be respected equally in the chain of life. That said, following the nature of carnivores for those who choose to do so is not evil as it is the way God created us, but likewise choosing a more sustainable humane way of life is also not against God's will as he has created us with the power of choice to do either. My knowledge of other cultures, perspectives, and historical environments began in the pages of books - an undying time machine of written history - and continues to this day with my interactions with others and travels. Through these avenues, I have been able to harness the ability to sympathize, step back from my own ingrained beliefs, and see life from another point of view. In my career as a Wildlife Biologist, these skills will be critical as I plan to work on conservation at an international scale. A field once corrupt by forcing Western beliefs, ideals, and policies onto vastly different cultures and communities. My goals revolve around community-centered conservation which seeks to empower communities in the local regions of these ecosystems and educate them on living a sustainable life in coexistence with wildlife and in accordance/guided by their own cultures.

Our oceans are the largest source of climate control, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and unexplored depths that exist on this planet, and yet it is a looming possibility that the lifeforms yet to be discovered from these delicate ecosystems will soon be extinct without us ever knowing that they exist. Iconic terrestrial species gain much of the attention when it comes to conservation and mass extinctions, despite the largely unexplored diversity of the oceans. I am very familiar with the role that oceans play in our environment and terrestrial ecosystems from my personal research and academics. As such a critical component of the Earth, we cherish and rely on for life, it is immensely important that we dedicate ourselves to protecting it. One of the primary threats to our oceans across the globe is climate change, addressing climate change by working towards furthering carbon sequestration and most critically working to halt further carbon emissions making their way into the environment. Pollution is yet another severe risk to the ocean and its ecosystems as it kills off marine life and inhibits the ocean's natural carbon sequestering ability, reducing point source pollution is important, but the broader sources of pollution such as fertilizer runoff must be promptly addressed through actions on land such as limiting or outright banning such toxins causing harm at their point of application and for decades to come in the environment. Pollution is not all in the form of runoff and toxins entering the waters from point source pollution though, material waste pollutes much of the oceans as well creating garbage islands and tides of plastic and resulting in the end of countless marine animals' lives as these floating plastic pieces are mistaken for fish or jellyfish. My passion for Marine Life and the conservation of such species and ecosystems was sparked in Middle school watching a television show about marine conservation work and the animals injured or killed by entanglement in plastic debris and fishing nets. I still have a deep love for the species of the ocean despite never having had the pleasure of encountering them in their wild, natural habitats. As a Colorado native, I have often worked to advocate for the marine life in a state without direct connections to the oceans. In Middle school, I started an environmental and animal activism club in which we created posters raising awareness about the plight of various species and including action steps individuals could take then and there. I chose the Whale as my endangered species of focus as helped - along with other club members - to spread awareness about the impacts of plastic bags and other single-use plastic waste. Currently, I am majoring in Wildlife Biology, and while the direct focus of my program is not on Marine species I will still work to protect the oceans and marine life throughout my career. My ultimate goal is to work on international conservation measures to ensure a future for all species on this planet despite current challenges. Addressing climate change through both in-the-field grassroots efforts and legislative action will of course impact the oceans just as much as the terrestrial lands, and ending pollution such as single-use plastics is a main goal of mine during my international conservation work. My career as a Wildlife Biologist and my intent to focus on the conservation of endangered species, in particular, will allow me to garner support for reducing plastics, ending climate change, and working towards a better future for all species through the lens of iconic terrestrial umbrella species.

Taylor Swift albums have been a big part of my musical preferences since Elementry school, from watching the iconic "Shake it Off" video with my Dad to singing along to the lyrics of "Wildest Dreams" with my Mom when it came on the radio, and now listening to her albums as I make the commute to and from my University. The past year was my Freshman year of college and marked a big life transition for me and the opening of a new chapter, not only in academics but also for me as an individual. This year's soundtrack for me would include "Welcome to New York" and "Shake it Off" as its primary feature tracks. For me, Welcome to New York is about opening new life chapters, embarking on new journeys, and embracing change in your life. As I was going through and finishing my first year of college while taking on new extracurriculars and navigating various changes, one verse, in particular, spoke to me stronger than the others; "Like any great love, it keeps you guessing, Like any real love, it's ever-changing, Like any true love, it drives you crazy, But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything" College is a time of change and guessing, each semester brings with it new opportunities and challenges and it can - at times - drive us a little crazy, but that journey into and through higher education is something I would never want to give up, and already my experiences at my university have been amazing and I don't want to change anything. As for "Shake It Off", it is a track about resilience, ignoring the haters and suppressors in the world, and getting on with your dreams. While the song in its entirety has spoken to me at various stages throughout my life, a couple of particular verses rang true for me this year. "I'm dancin' on my own (dancin' on my own), I make the moves up as I go (moves up as I go), And that's what they don't know, That's what they don't know...But I keep cruisin', Can't stop, won't stop groovin', It's like I got this music in my mind, Sayin' it's gonna be alright" I attended an online school from the time I was in First grade till I graduated High School which helped me develop time and stress management skills as I took responsibility for my own schedule and work. But despite that, I was sure college would be a big transition. But, from the first class of the semester on, It felt natural to be here pursuing my dreams as though I'd done it all along - even though I really was making the moves up as I went. Taylor's songs are very inspirational for me and I feel that I share in part of her story as a young female following the life she always dreamt about as a child. There are always people who do not want to see you succeed, and I - like Taylor - have always either shaken it off and moved on or found it as further encouragement to reach my goals, just as Taylor once said; "Anytime someone tells me that I can't do something, I want to do it more." Another thing we have in common is that members of our family have always been there to help us overcome obstacles and remain a steadfast encouragement. For Taylor, it was her Mom, and for me, it was - and still is - my Mom and Dad. They've always inspired me to follow my dreams.

My journey in environmental activism began early on in my life, as I witnessed society's negative impacts on the environment, from pollution to littering and overconsumption, and became motivated to take action. I remember taking small actions with my family for our own waste like gathering batteries for recycling, turning off the lights when leaving a room, and chasing down inevitable stray napkins in the parking lot. But my love for animals and the environment and my passion for protecting them led me to pursue a further reaching goal. Through my undying passion for research, I discovered the environmental impacts that were being seen around the world, from the "Plastic Oceans" that took the lives of numerous unassuming sea life to climate change and the vast impacts it was already bringing as a result of our harmful actions - or in many cases inaction in following a better path. We depend on the environment for everything that makes life possible; the water we drink, the oxygen we breathe, and the climate control we depend on are all products of our environment. As a child, I used to say that "I wanted to save the world", and a career in conservation and environmental activism is the closest I can get to achieving that goal. Currently, I am pursuing my degree in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University with a double minor in Global Environmental Sustainability and Ecological Restoration. My emphasis in my career will be on endangered species conservation and building a sustainable way of life globally for both the environment and wildlife. But my activism for the environment and for wildlife will extend well beyond my studies. Currently, I volunteer as a citizen scientist collecting data on species populations (such as Pika) for researchers working to analyze the impacts of climate change on alpine species in Colorado as well as serve on an outreach planning committee for Wolverine reintroductions. Protecting species locally such as Wolverines and Pika as well as the exotic endangered species I hope to dedicate my career to saving ties back directly into environmental activism, as climate change is the biggest threat to their existence. My minor in Global Environmental Sustainability will equip me with the knowledge I will require to continue my environmental activism largely in terms of advocating for legislative environmental action to address key issues like global warming, overconsumption, and a lack of recycling initiatives as well as inspiring others to take action. I recently started volunteering with The Environmental Learning Center which works to educate the general public - primarily children - about the issues our world faces while inspiring action and cultivating appreciation for the natural world. Working with these kids and watching their fascination in learning about the environment inspires me to help play a role in protecting the world I've known, for future generations to enjoy. Individual actions are key to helping the environment we all depend on, and if we work together towards a common future I am confident that there is still hope - hope that I've seen in my fellow peers at CSU and in the children I work with at the Environmental Learning Center. Some of the action steps I always recommend to my friends and family are; reducing consumption and waste by using reusable products when possible, recycling, being conscious of and reducing energy consumption and using the power of consumerism to send a message to companies that fail to be environmentally conscious. It is my hope that my interactions with children, peers, and adults alike will inspire positive change for our environment.

It was my Freshman year of high school when I first came across the major that would allow me to combine so many of my numerous passions into a career that would give me the skills and knowledge required to really make a difference; Wildlife Biology. As I considered my future career prospects, I realized just how many sides there were to a career in Wildlife Biology, and how these different spheres of the field merged together into being as close to "changing the world" as one person could likely get. I chose the field because its primary focus is on the conservation and well-being of wildlife and ecosystems. As a child, I witnessed habitat destruction in the form of perfectly healthy trees home to raptor nests cut down for infrastructure and fields of prairie dog burrows leveled for supposed "aesthetic appeal" at surrounding parks. Why was the natural beauty of nature suppressed and destroyed rather than enhanced by people? These questions are what propelled me to originally pursue this goal in life. I watched on the news as Wildlife Biologists rallied the community, wrote letters, petitioned, and fought extensively to see to it that the intrinsic value of nature was enhanced rather than lost, and I was inspired to follow in those steps. While my strongest passion in life is to do what I can to help animals and the environment we live in, there are many other passions and hopes I have for the world we live in. As a child, when prompted with "What do you want to do when you grow up", I'd respond with "I want to save the world". While that aspiration seemed impossible, those words remain a guiding principle for me as I embark on my career. Currently, as a student at CSU in Wildlife Biology, I've learned about the various components that play into wildlife conservation. Supporting local communities by providing access to education and sustainable options for income can not only help families economically escape poverty and the issues that come with it but also protect wildlife and ecosystems. These holistic, big-picture approaches to conservation have been greatly successful in recent decades. Already, I have seen so many individuals who wish they could do something for wildlife and ecosystems internationally, but are unaware of how much of a difference they truly can make from their hometowns just by exercising their purchasing power effectively. With climate change anxiety and the news of a looming sixth mass extinction, it is understandable people long to help and suffer from a feeling of hopelessness in international matters like deforestation and poaching. By educating these communities, helping elevate impoverished communities, and finding unity in a world of division, we can truly make a difference together. Every day, as I work alongside people equally as driven and passionate as myself, and educate inspired children through my University's Environmental Learning Center, I grow more inspired and hopeful - maybe "Saving the world" isn't so unreachable after all!

It's hard to pinpoint when my desire and passion for helping others and making a difference in the world first came to me. I remember the feeling of pride and community when my parents would stop to help someone having car troubles or when I would accompany my dad to shovel snow at the homes of our elderly neighbors. The feeling that even if a small act of kindness - you were making a difference for that person. At seven years old I recall having big dreams of wanting to "save the world" as I put it, I considered how I could help address the homelessness that I'd been keenly aware of throughout the towns we frequented, even in towns with a relatively wealthy population. I remember looking at the homeless people along the roads in proximity to Cherry Creek, one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Denver, and wondering why, with so many wealthy people frequenting the area, these people still lived without basic food and shelter that the city and wealthier residents could so easily provide. My most prominent life calling has been to help animals, nature, and the environment, but much of the work I hope to accomplish revolves around people and their empowerment, well-being, and involvement. A connection I've witnessed more and more as I look at the interconnectedness of human society with nature, animal welfare, and climate change. In the year 2014, my family and I took in an abandoned cat, the cruelty of her owner's decision to abandon her as though she was an unwanted piece of furniture baffled me. This occurred after the 2013 floods, some in our community suffered so many losses that they decided their best bet was to start over somewhere else, maybe this transition was deemed too hard for her, it was a gamble to abandon her but shelters required surrender fees and the stigma of death at shelters even no-kills still lingered, maybe they were simply unaware of temp fostering programs to help owners find a safe temporary home for their pets to be reunited later when they gain their footing financially. Cat overpopulation stems mostly from people who are unaware of the resources available to them (like free spay and neuter), or lack the money and accessibility to get the cats to these clinics to receive care, despite putting their pets needs for food, shelter, and safety above their own. My family and I have cared for community cats for over a decade providing spay/neuter and helping raise awareness of resources available to cat owners/caretakers. I now plan to create a non-profit to provide free/low-cost resources to owners including transport to/from spay/neuter surgeries, free food deliveries, and other forms of assistance including planning to ensure their cats have a safe place to go after they're gone. In my Wildlife Biology career, much of my work will revolve around communities. Many of the most at-risk and diverse biodiversity hotspots exist in poor/uneducated communities that have no means of securing food and income for their families than exploiting the lands/nature through deforestation, agriculture, and poaching. Supporting communities in finding employment that provides a reasonable living wage for eco jobs like sustainable agroforestry, patrolling natural areas, renewable energy, and creative endeavors like making clothing/jewelry, can provide families and individuals with sustainable livelihoods, ensure a sustainable way of living and improve the prospects for nature and the community. Social issues are intertwined with every issue currently, and helping people find their way and access resources to create a better life for themselves/their families truly is the path to saving the world.

I am a strong believer that everyone has a purpose in life, a calling to make a difference, and use the skills and abilities they have been blessed with to better the world we all share. For me, that calling is to help animals and people through my career and individual choices. Life is a journey to be treasured and looked back on as a lasting legacy to be proud of. While my career goals and long-term life goals have yet to be completed, I already have a lot of accomplishments to be proud of. During middle school, I created a virtual club of students who were interested in animal welfare and environmental action and together we raised awareness through posters and word of mouth about a variety of issues both in our local and global communities. Our efforts were greatest in Colorado but extended as far-reaching as Bolivia through the powerful network of virtual students our online school offered. In high school, I had many academic achievements - as well as struggles with loss and some academic hurdles. Based on my achievements in Middle school, I was immediately put into Language Arts Honors which I maintained throughout all four years of high school. Additionally, I was a member of my school's National Honor Society, maintained a 3.4 overall GPA (with a 4.0 GPA all of my Senior year), was selected as the Student Speaker for my graduating class, and participated in a variety of volunteer work. Unwilling to wait until after earning my degree in Wildlife Biology to start making a difference in Wildlife Conservation, I began participating in community science programs locally, including conducting surveys in the Rocky Mountains on Pika populations and suitable habitats at various sites for the Colorado Pika Project, planting trees and helping restore habitat for native species with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, tagging and organizing camera trap photographs for Zooniverse and documenting native and invasive species I encountered in my day-to-day life. Aside from my career-related volunteer work, I also participated in two animal welfare volunteer projects - caring for cat colonies by providing TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) to reduce nuisance behaviors in the community, benefit the cats and wildlife through reduced populations, and providing resources for accessing this care to other owners in the area (a passion I hope to one day develop into my own non-profit serving owners/caretakers in need and helping reduce feral and stray cat populations through humane sterilization methods). Finally, I volunteer to train and help with daily care tasks at a sanctuary for abused/neglected farm animals while also educating the community and welcoming visitors to the sanctuary. As I continue to embark on my new educational journey at Colorado State University, as a Wildlife Biology major, double minoring in Global Environmental Sustainability and Ecological Restoration, I am looking forward to continuing to make a difference. My career goals include working internationally to preserve biodiversity hotspots, assisting local communities in establishing sufficient sustainable ways of living in harmony with native species and ecosystems, and working to enact and support legislative action for climate action, animal welfare, and conservation efforts. While this career path will allow me to make a difference for some of the communities and wildlife ecosystems most in need, I do not wish to stop there. I plan to continue expanding my volunteer efforts to assist both people and animals in need. In addition to founding a non-profit to help cats and their owners/caretakers, I also plan to found my own animal training business to train service dogs, therapy dogs, and conservation detection dogs from former strays and rescues.

"Success" is a term so often used in daily conversations, but what this word actually means can vary greatly between individuals. For me, success is about many things, it is about finding happiness and fulfillment in life, it's about making a difference, it's about reaching your goals and achieving your dreams, and ultimately, it's about making the absolute most of the limited time we have here on this earth. For me, it isn't about the money or the fame I achieve, it's about leading a life that I can be proud of and making a real difference in the world. Success is multi-faceted, achieving/maintaining happiness is by my definition one of the integral components of success, what makes each of us happy and gives us fulfillment is unique to our own identities, but achieving that balance is something many sadly never achieve. I work to focus my life around my passions and set time aside for hobbies and extracurricular involvement. By pursuing my degree in Wildlife Biology I am on the path to surrounding myself in a career where I can make a difference and be surrounded by my passions. Ensuring that my involvement and career still allow me time to spend with family and pets is also integral to my happiness. My academics are one more tangible way of measuring my success, getting good grades and accomplishing my academic goals opens doors for me to achieve future goals in addition to short-term fulfillment. I have always been a dedicated student and have been proud of my academic achievements. During high school, I was a member of the National Honor Society, a Language Arts Honors student all four years of high school, maintained an overall 3.4+ GPA, got a 4.0 GPA Senior year, and was selected as the Student Speaker for my graduating class. So far, college has also been going well, I've been able to get involved with The Wildlife Society, earn a 4.0 GPA, be invited to join the Gamma Beta Phi National Honor Society, and start giving back to the University and community that has already given me so much. Community involvement is another facet of my success, for me, community involves not only the people who share the same land, resources, and connections as I do but also the animals and other living organisms that live alongside us. The trees and plants that support my human and animal community members with oxygen and habitat, the plants that prevent the banks that hold our water from eroding, and the soils that filter our water. From my volunteer work as an Enrichment Volunteer at Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, I have had the opportunity to find fulfillment and satisfaction in working one-on-one with residents and watching their personalities blossom. From my now passed-on training partner Rowena whom I had the privilege of helping come out of her shell and gain confidence to let her personality shine, to my newest partner Jasper, a rooster who is known to lash out and therefore misses out on the resulting socialization and human interaction. Helping these residents and spending time with them has allowed me to recognize animal behaviors specifically with lesser-known species and have the ability to apply this knowledge with my own animals and those I will encounter in the future. Beyond this aspect of my volunteer work, I love putting on "training demos" for tour groups by allowing diverse audiences of both children and adults to gain a new perspective on animal intelligence and change misconceptions by allowing them to watch my training sessions. Similarly, my role as a volunteer at the CSU Environmental Learning Center has allowed me to connect with children from different backgrounds in a shared love of nature and wildlife and be a role model for them for the success and life goals that you can achieve. Seeing the fascination in the eyes of these children at hearing about nature processes or observing a new species for the first time reminds me of the very fascination that brought me to pursue this life path, and giving other children that same inspiration is immensely fulfilling for me. Currently, I am on a path to continue and expand my involvement in my career field and have reached the point all college students eventually do. Do I choose a more experience-based job for the value it will provide me in my future career, or an unrelated but higher-paying job that will allow me to begin paying off my educational expenses? This scholarship would make an immense difference for me financially, and allow me to pursue success in the form of self-fulfillment, community service, and change-making at this early point in my career without the stress of the financial burden of college. Thank you for your consideration!

Remorsefully, I toss the recyclable Sprite bottle into the only available receptacle for waste, a small gray trash bin set to be taken to the landfill. In this particular building, there are no water fountains, only a vending machine in which you can pay for a single-use drink that will quench your thirst for the moment, and then be discarded to a landfill to leach toxic chemicals and microplastics into the environment we all depend on. These bottles are all aluminum and recyclable plastic, but plenty of plastics and other materials found elsewhere, are not. Even recyclable products are often not recycled as there is no viable option for consumers to do so. Everything we do and require in our daily lives is dependent on the environment, a system currently facing intense struggles and damage as a direct result of human actions, the vast majority of which are completely avoidable. The water we drink is being depleted by irresponsible use and a warming climate as a result of pollutants like CO2 that we produce daily. Individual choices can make an impact; I carry a reusable water bottle with me every day at my university to fill up at the numerous filling stations on campus and properly sort my recyclable and compostable waste into the proper receptacles readily available. I can do this only as a result of my University's policies. Accessibility to sustainable choices falls to the government, and international frameworks to be put in place. These policies should include the banning of single-use plastics, styrofoam, etc., and require their replacement with sustainable, clean products and biodegradable options that will not harm the environment. In the meantime, mandatory international recycling policies holding companies/producers accountable for their generated waste and requiring accessibility to recycling and composting should be mainstream practices.

Reading is a freedom, a path to knowledge and enlightenment, and a gateway to transport you to worlds one could never experience both fictional and real. Literature brings compassion and knowledge to the tucked-away worlds one may never otherwise hear of and connects individuals far and wide through revolutionary ideas and relatable storylines. If I could have everyone in the world read just one book, I would choose "Regeneration - Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation" by Paul Hawken, this book details a revolutionary approach to addressing climate change within the short window of time remaining for us to correct centuries worth of pollution and exploitation of the planet we call home. Each generation is born into a world facing struggles, conflicts, and considerations whatever those may be. But the looming uninhabitable state of Earth and mass extinctions of hundreds of thousands of species pose a major source of depression, lack of confidence and inspiration for the future, and an overall sense of helplessness for younger generations reaching their prime in the face of these issues. Many people are unaware that solutions for the vast majority of these issues already exist, the issue exists in awareness and implementation. The book Regeneration is an assurance that it is not too late...yet. While the urgency of these issues is clear throughout with the simple hard facts that Paul Hawken presents, he manages to keep a knowledgeable and hopeful tone as he lays out the suggestions and blueprints for a sustainable future and highlights the needed actions that even individual caring citizens can take (with an entire section dedicated to providing further resources in addition to the actions speckled throughout). He emphasizes interconnectedness with societal social and environmental issues and his plans would bring our future to a more positive standing for the environment, wildlife, and humans - a possible future all too often overlooked. For those having their doubts about the severity of these issues, to the people who have dedicated their lives and careers to making a difference, this book lays out a detailed plan for the future we all desire, and best of all it is all well within reach as a united global society.

Conservation is, by definition, a "crisis discipline", a profession stemming from the dire need for action on the front of conserving endangered species, fragmented/damaged habitats, the environment/climate, and the benefits of the life we've become so accustomed to. In this time in history, the minds of aware citizens are plagued with numerous Issues and conflicts that our world and societies are facing and while there are many ways to deal with these issues, many people fall into one of three camps; Ignoring/downplaying the issues and pretending they do not exist and therefore curbing their worries, Fixating/Wallowing on the endless issues and the sense of helplessness that no one individual can make a real difference or Taking Action and fighting for a better future. I personally fall into the third camp, and much of my community work is focused on educating people in the first group and empowering people in the second group to switch to taking action. So many people want to make a difference, but they simply lack the means to do so. As a first-year student in Wildlife Biology, I can relate to these feelings. I am familiar with the numerous bleak outlooks that exist currently. Estimates state that we must protect 30% of the land and water key ecosystems by the year 2030 to prevent the 6th mass extinction at its worst and that we must half emissions and pollution by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. As a member of the undergraduate class of 27' who plans on pursuing graduate school placing my graduation date in May 2029, under a year will be left prior to these integral milestones. How are students who won't so much as earn their degree before these milestones supposed to make a difference? My mental health is integral to my physical well-being as well as my personal and academic success, and getting out there and making a difference right now in the present has been my best method to maintain my mental well-being in the face of these issues. Many young college students overlook the plethora of opportunities they have here and now to make changes and ensure a better future in whatever ways they can, especially at Universities like Colorado State University. As a strategy to maintain my mental health and inspiration for my career and current pursuits, I put together a list of these issues I hoped to address. While it's not often thought to be, the US is one of the countries with the most biodiversity, especially in shortgrass prairies in my home state Colorado, and ecosystems such as the Florida Everglades. We are also a top polluting nation, with a culture of overconsumption and lack of circular economy, finally, we are one of the largest markets for the products that are causing so much destruction and harm in international ecosystems along with the UK and EU. Recognizing the issues right here in my home country, and realizing the immense influence we have globally was a source of inspiration for me. As a citizen in the US who is registered to vote and like all Americans frequently making purchases, I've now realized how much of an impact citizens in the US can have on a global scale even while pursuing their studies, an enormous boost to my mental state. My advice is to examine your current state, what issues you are worried about, and how you can address them yourself here and now. Working towards making a difference is much better than worrying about inaction while remaining inactive yourself.

As everyone - especially college students and graduates - are aware, higher education comes with a hefty price tag, and that price is more than worth paying for the education, experiences, and memories you will walk away with in the end. Not to mention the potential for a higher salary and the opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to continued learning in higher education. But all too often, the price you pay for school and the work it takes to cover these expenses can become a barrier in and of itself to seizing the opportunities that are available to you during your college years, or for some, even attending college. For me, it was never a matter of whether I was attending college, I had a passion for animals and the environment from a young age (especially through the lens of Biology and Ecology), and the positive influence of my parents who both attended college inspired me to follow in the path of higher education. The consideration stood with how I intended to pay off college, and first and foremost which college would provide me with the best education, experiences, and opportunities. The answer was Colorado State University, a tier 1 research institute that prides itself in offering a multitude of research, fieldwork, internship, and involvement opportunities to its students. However, many extracurricular networking, internships, and club/community involvement are of course unpaid. With the financial commitment that comes with attending higher education in the first place, these opportunities and experiences may go unclaimed in order to prioritize getting a well-paying job in the short term to pay off accruing college debt and living expenses. Students who prioritize experience may fall further into debt as they are unable to find or secure a job while pursuing career development opportunities. This balancing act is a familiar struggle for college students across the nation and beyond, as I look for internships, volunteer opportunities, and extracurricular professional society and club involvements, the open slots in my academic course schedule fill in, leaving me to consider the very debate all college students encounter. Do I pursue field and experience-based opportunities with my time not spent in class, or prioritize getting a job to pay off my educational expenses? Earning any scholarship money will help relieve some of the financial impact of pursuing higher education and allow me to take on more involvement opportunities without as much pressure to prioritize finding employment to pay off my college costs. My career path is Wildlife Biology, my dream job would consist of traveling internationally to work on the preservation of biodiversity hotspots which hold 70-80% of the world's biodiversity in just a small handful of countries. This work would consist of working to help communities find sustainable ways to make a living, get an education, and help make their communities overall more sustainable so that they may exist in harmony with nature and native species. These hotspots, especially tropical forests like the Amazon are carbon sinks that help to combat climate change, preserving these carbon sinks globally, building up communities in a sustainable way, and working to enact legislation and assist more well-developed countries to create a sustainable and low impact way of living will make this world a better place for people, animals and the nature that we encounter and depend on every day. My goals while in college are to prepare myself as much as possible to address the needs of the communities where I'll work and ensure I have the knowledge and field skills to reach my career goals and make a difference.

Modern learning has evolved extensively from what it was only a few decades into the past, as online learning and the internet have begun to dominate the realms of research, class support/tutoring and even studying, we have seen accessibility to education and resources expand greatly and reach new audiences. In the past, students had to go to a library in town and spend hours carefully selecting research materials and sources they needed for a project. Now all you need to do is log on to a site like Google Scholar and locate quality sources, no hassle of leaving your home. If you're struggling in a certain course, virtual tutors can connect you with experienced individuals on a global scale or you can use sites like Kahn Academy to test and learn skills. This modern age of internet, technology, and virtual tools, available at the push of a button for millions of students is often taken for granted. Generation Z has grown up surrounded by these convenient technologies, but millions of individuals in developing countries and low-income communities are still without these modern conveniences so capable of spreading education and knowledge to billions. Online tools and vast resource availability can be used for good in education and global connections between people, but it is also used as a way to spread false information and pseudoscience, this availability of reputable and falsified sources has taught be critical source evaluation and critical reading skills that are integral for sorting out the truth from fiction. As a student fortunate enough to have access to the amazing tools available on the internet, I am thankful for the opportunities it has given me and the accessibility it has provided for me to learn various topics. As a little girl, I was fascinated by research and spent my free time - when I wasn't outdoors- on the computer conducting numerous research on a variety of topics from politics to animal welfare, I became very knowledgeable on the topics I was passionate about without ever having to step foot out of my house. After my first semester of 1st grade, I made the switch to online school which I continued through to graduation. This flexibility and power over my education with online schooling taught me vital skills including utilizing Word and Google Suites, writing professional emails, time management, and online research with credible sources. Utilizing virtual SAT Prep, KahnAcademy, career websites, Quizlet, Kahoot, and various other online tools was a regular part of my day as an online student. When I began learning German in high school, I became aware of a new sector in online tools, global interconnectedness, and learning opportunities. Through phone apps like Duolingo that can teach you new languages, Google Translate, and even internet-based exchange programs that connect people of diverse cultures and languages to further knowledge of new languages, this interconnectedness the internet has now made possible has vast potential for global education and learning. The Internet and this age of online connectedness can be used for harm, but it can also be used for good, from spreading the word about an issue, building support or citizen mobilization for a social justice cause or climate action, building more connections between people who are geographically isolated allowing communication and education cross-culture, or providing opportunities for advancement and education that would not otherwise be possible for so many, the internet and online platforms have been an integral support system and way of life for Gen Z, now its time we expand the positive use of these platforms to further global connections and empower underprivileged communities.

"Why?" that is perhaps the most important question to ask in life, of our society, our goals, our actions, and of our own beliefs and perceptions of the world around us. From childhood, even before I can remember, I was asking those whys, trying to gain an understanding of the world around me. In my early schooling years, I discovered a deep love and compassion for science. When I found myself dreading attending school and hating the brick-and-mortar school I attended I found solace in the doors of the science room, where we learned about earth processes and the creatures that inhabit the earth alongside us from earthworms to hissing cockroaches. I remember the large science experiment kits my parents would find for me, and the experiments my family and I would conduct at our kitchen table after dinner. Science has always been a retreat, full of solutions and answers for every difficulty that exists here in our world. And for me, the perfect path to make a difference in the world. I was always that girl who adored insects, the one who loved spiders and was intrigued by watching their behaviors despite the screams of others at their sight, the one who would happily escort the earthworms gathering in the gutters after a thunderstorm safely back to the dirt and the one my friends sought out whenever another child was burning ants with a magnifying glass or pulling the legs off of grasshoppers at backyard pool parties. It wasn't long before I'd earned the nickname "nature girl" along with the reputation of being the protector of these foundational organisms we share this world with, full of compassion for every creature I encountered just as my parents had raised me to be. That love of science, finding answers, and making a difference in the world has stayed with me for over a decade. Here now as I write this, I am a full-time student in a STEM major, Wildlife Biology, with a double minor in Ecological Restoration and Global Environmental Sustainability. My research questions and career goals center around using scientifically proven methods and solutions to address climate change, habitat loss, implement effective legislation, conserve/restore ecosystems and species, and bring sustainable well-being and improvements to countries and regions that lack a sustainable way of living and instead exploit the environment. Present day is a time of uncertainty in the face of looming global conflicts, mass extinction events, devastating climate change, and concerning social issues and lack of human rights. But science has the answer to all of our problems, it gives us a path to solve the issues we currently face and build a future in which future generations will have a canvas of biodiversity and a (very gradually) recovering climate in which to address existing issues. Not only can science provide us with answers to these issues, but in many cases, it already has and is just waiting to be implemented. So the question to be answered now is; What is it that we - as individuals and as a society - are waiting for?

For me, a legacy isn't so much the way your name lives on through the graphics on Google on your birthday, the placks that honor the monetary donations or dedications you have provided, and the movies made in your honor. While those recognitions of work, accomplishments, and life legacy are of course a welcomed show of appreciation, a legacy worth fighting for is about making change - sometimes for individual people and animals, sometimes for a species or community, or a plot of land that provides a much-needed oasis for struggling species. These acts may go unnoticed on a bigger scale, no one may know the dedication you have made and the difference you have spurred on that scale, and yet, sometimes smaller scale acts such as these can make the most impact in this world. Maybe that species not only thrives but provides a much-anticipated cure for a disease like Cancer - of course, the person who saved that species would not be credited with the deserved label of saving that cure and allowing others the opportunity to discover it. Maybe that land you protected out of your own will to save nature and the creatures we share this earth with provides the last stronghold for a would-be extinct species. Maybe those children in the community you made it your duty to help or for that one child whom you supported to get an education and make something of their life became someone who stopped climate change or cured world hunger. For me, Legacy is when you truly make a difference, change something for the better, and ensure this world is a better place for coming generations. Recognization for your actions, awards, and gratitude is a nice touch to the legacy you've left on the world, but that isn't why true changemakers make a difference, we do it simply to make a difference and help others, to make the future better weather our actions are recognized or not. My parents have always been those people who are willing to lend a hand, rather than turn a blind eye to the struggle of others. They will stop to help someone with car troubles, spare money, and belongings for those in need, and help others whenever the opportunity presents itself. They never expect anything in return or compensation, and as they've always told my brother and me, "Do good for the sake of doing good, following the golden rule and helping others, not because you expect something in return. It will come back to you in the end." My parent's selfless nature and the values that they instilled on my brother and I have led me to follow in their footsteps and do my part whenever possible to help others. It is these same values we could all benefit from being more prevalent in society, and these same values I will work to demonstrate in my interactions with others and future career and impart on my own children when the time comes. A legacy is not how well-known you are in the world, but what you've accomplished in your lifetime, in the form of creating change.

I can think back to my high school years and declare with confidence that mental health can have an immense impact on academic performance, the reference is not a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic that shattered the lives, mental health, and goals of millions but rather a year of tumultuous losses that would come to impact my performance. The summer of 2019 (prior to my first semester of high school), started out like any other, with the celebration of another semester complete, but that summer was soon to take a devastating turn. Just a few weeks after the semester end, my amazing cat and faithful companion Twilight was found suffering from antifreeze poisoning. As I stroked his soft fur and he leaned in for one last head hug, clearly in pain as he rose stiffly to his feet, I contemplated why anyone could ever do this to such a precious living creature. But thinking this was the extent of our family's loss this summer, was a mistake. Just a week later, my grandmother was admitted to the hospital, an experience that left us all fighting to ensure she received the care she needed, arguing with doctors over the wishes she'd so often declared to us and ultimately resulting in her loss in July - one month short of my first semester of high-school. I was still grieving the lives lost that summer as I plunged into a new world of high-school-level academics. That semester my grades suffered some as a result of my time off and less-than-ideal mental state, my future goals of making a difference were put at risk as I got the only D I would all of my high school career. Just one slip-up when it comes to grades can be enough to devastate a prestigious path. As someone who deeply values academic achievement, this loss of a good grade for such a perfectionist was a loss to be mourned, had it not been for the incomparable losses my family had already endured that summer. But I was reminded of a quote my parents had told me from George Burns "There are two kinds of problems; one you can do something about, and one you can't. The ones you can do something about, do it. And the ones you can't? well, there's nothing you can do, so there's no sense worrying about them." While this statement is easier said than done, I applied it to my academics, there was nothing I could do about that D, but I could work hard to restore my GPA, and I did. I graduated as a National Honor Society Member, earned a 3.4 GPA, and was selected as the speaker for my graduating class. Despite my struggles academically and personally, I set out after that semester to turn my grief into action, to turn the pain and anger I was feeling into passionate acts of change. As of now, I am currently working on an advocacy research project about the shortcomings of the US healthcare system and at the same time brainstorming an organization that can petition for the outlaw of ethylene glycol in antifreeze (a replaceable agent that kills millions of pets and children each year). Mental health is a critical component of success for each of us as we strive to reach our personal life goals. Changing our grief and pain into action, focusing on what we can do, and ensuring we have sources of happiness, passion, and support in our lives are integral to well-being and success. Only then can we put our best selves toward our goals.

You may never have experienced the bioluminescent bays of Puerto Rico, walked amidst the historical Machu Picchu of Peru, seen the various Lemurs jumping from tree to tree in Madagascar's Baobabs, or encountered an endangered Pangolin in the wild, but regardless of your experiences, you know what these places and animals are (and if not, a quick google search will flood you with images, accounts of visits, and video footage immersing you in these otherworldly wonders). How is it that a child who has never been to a zoo or the native habitat of a Tiger can draw an image of these majestic cats? How is it you can conjure the image of Machu Picchu or a bioluminescent bay despite never having been there yourself? The answer is through the quite literal lens of photography. We've experienced countries, natural wonders, and historical sites, and become acquainted with distant communities and ecosystems most of us will likely never experience in person. People who've never left America care deeply about ecosystems like the Amazon Rainforest and species from Polar Bears to the smallest of amphibians, we don't want to lose these species' existence in this world despite our geographical separation. Photography builds compassion, awareness, and love for ecosystems and species a world away. That is where my creative passion ties in. At an unprecedented rate, hundreds and thousands of species are being pushed to the brink of extinction, many gone before we've ever had the pleasure of experiencing them and many more lesser-known species the world barely knows of in their existence. My creative passion is to use photography to open people's eyes and minds to these natural wonders and species that exist in this amazing world we all share and raise awareness of the plight they face and support for their protection and recovery. These species need people to care about them across the globe, to innovate, or to make a lifestyle change to save them. But sadly, many people go on harming these animals with little to no knowledge of their existence - photography can change that. In addition to just spreading knowledge about the species we currently share our earth with, photography can also prevent the phenomena of "generational amnesia" or "shifting borderlines" as it is often called. As time goes on, generation after generation grows up in a less diverse world having lost a multitude of species in each generation's lifetime, accounts of how things used to be when Europeans first came to America have been lost and forgotten. Flocks of the now-extinct Passenger Pigeons used to blacken the sky like clouds in their regular migrations, a sight now unimaginable for most. Photography can keep these visions and knowledge of what we've already lost and what we stand to lose now alive. If I had an extra 24 hours in a day, I would spend it on continuing my education and knowledge of the world we live in through reading and regular excursions to visit, explore, document, and work to protect various world ecosystems. Doubling the time we have every day would make a significant difference in society to make more time for progress. Years twice as long would give those like myself - currently pursuing their education - a longer time frame to save the species of this world, to take time to build compassion, and gain support for degrading and dying ecosystems. Like many of the animals I work to protect and will dedicate my career to, my creativity and energy most frequently spike in the evenings after twilight and continue into the early morning hours.

I am a determined student and self-described overachiever looking forward to making a difference in the world. My dedication to doing well academically has led me to attain a fairly strong set of academic achievements thus far in my education; I was a Language Arts Honors student all 4-years of high school, a member of my school's National Honor Society chapter, maintained an overall 3.45 GPA in HS and a 4.0 GPA senior year and was selected to be the Class of '23 Student Speaker for my graduating class. Most recently, I achieved a 4.0 GPA in my first semester of college making me eligible for recognition on the Deans List for my college. In addition to my academic work, I am also regularly involved in volunteer work and community service. An endeavor I hope to expand once again this summer to include education/outreach and diversify my experiences. My family and I decided to join the Colorado Pika Project - a citizen science effort where we hike up to select sites in the Rocky Mountains and conduct surveys on Pika populations and existing habitat - in which our number of family site visits both seasons we've participated earned an honorable mention for four site visits and then our 12 site visits this summer which is the most sites ever surveyed in a season. At Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary where I volunteer doing animal care tasks as well as working with residents one-on-one doing positive reinforcement clicker training, I was awarded the Animal Care award for the number of hours I logged. My goals and aspirations for the future include starting my own business and non-profit in addition to making an impact in the field of Wildlife Biology. My education in the STEM field of Wildlife Biology will allow me to join the ranks of acclaimed conservations, ecologists, and biologists who are working to pull our world back from the brink of facing climate change and the sixth global mass extinction event. Through my career goals of preserving biodiversity hotspots, restoring fragmented and damaged ecosystems, working to support/lead conservation efforts for endangered species, and finding new ways to innovate, create effective legislation, and build a sustainable way of living between human communities and natural ecosystems. Currently, I'm also double minoring in Global Environmental Sustainability and Ecological Restoration to further diversify my academic work beyond the STEM/Wildlife ecology perspectives of my work. In addition to my Wildlife Biology work - an integral and fulfilling field but one that is both highly competitive and at times with gaps in low-paying positions or without work for those seeking to make a positive difference in the field - to combat this, I plan to pursue my entrepreneurial dream of starting my own positive reinforcement animal training business. With the niche of taking in animals from rescues and shelter euthanization lists and giving them a second life as conservation dogs, service/therapy dogs, protection dogs, sports dogs, and well-trained companion animals as well as catering behavioral services and trick training to pets already owned including cats, dogs, birds, small mammals, reptiles and even farm animals. I am a dedicated, passionate, driven, and accomplished student who is always looking for more ways to get involved and gain experience. CSU offers a multitude of ways to get involved in the community, research opportunities, and internships - one of the reasons I chose this University. Winning this scholarship would allow me to better seize opportunities with the most value in experience and knowledge without worrying about the financial burden that comes with higher education.

What makes a Leader? "Leadership" has always been a very strong word full of inspiration and challenge. A word I strive to live up to and live by, and yet a word so often misunderstood and abused at will. A leader is not so much the person in charge in an already established position, as the person who possesses the characteristics needed to make change, and fights for and carves their own path to discover and achieve that change. I've been told that I possessed a leadership personality even as a child, I remember at the age of seven talking with my parents about how I wanted to "save the world", the problems that I witnessed in society from animal welfare issues, environmental damage, social justice issues, and the homelessness crisis inspired me to take action. Never have I ever questioned my life calling, it was evident to me from the moment I could mentally process the questions of my passions, hobbies, and fantasies in life. My life calling is to help animals, the environment, and people, to make a difference, give back to my community, and carve the path to a more humane and sustainable world for every one of this earth's inhabitants. My path started nearly a decade and a half ago, as a passionate little girl looking for ways to make a difference. I was the one whom friends and family turned to for identification of the insects we encountered on the walks I led through local nature parks, the one who was never afraid to lift a spider from the thundering footpath to the camouflaged safety of a nearby tree, the one who rehabilitated butterflies, dragonflies and countless other little insects in my mini zoo which I proudly allowed friends the privilege of touring. That feeling of spreading awareness and exposing family and friends to the wonders that I had always seen in the natural world and building their compassion for this world. As I entered my middle school years, I decided to embark on another section of my change-making and leadership journey and founded an Animal Rights and Environmental Awareness Club in which I and my fellow students created posters, flyers, and presentations about such issues to show family and friends and post in our neighborhoods. I watched as the aspects of nature I had treasured and witnessed so alive with diversity and ecosystems over the years were destroyed to make room for infrastructure, homes, polluting industries, and gas stations. If there is a time to make a difference it is now, I told myself. By the time I reached high school, I had decided on my ideal career path that would allow me to make the difference that I wanted for wildlife, the environment, and the multitude of precious ecosystems that exist on our planet. That career path is Wildlife Biology. I've honed my leadership abilities with the mentorship of my always-supporting family and the inspiration that I gained from the world we inhabit. I learned through my observations and interactions with others that my ability to look past our differences to unite for change, keep an open mind, persuade/educate/inform others, and lead by example are my greatest leadership skills. It is these very leadership abilities that will allow me to make positive changes in our world, to take charge, and lead to a better, more humane, and sustainable future for all. And the only way these changes can be made is if we look past our differences and lead - together.

"I want to save the world." That was the passionate response I gave as a seven-year-old girl when asked what I wanted to do with my life. Observing a world full of issues and individual struggles, in dire need of solutions, the only direction I had yet was a passion and desire to do what I could to make this world a better place. With years of research, advocacy, and experience, my life direction has remained on a similar path to making a real difference for the world as a whole and all of the life that resides here. In these past years, as I have matured, I still think of answers to the same questions I contemplated at the tender age of 7. Where do I start? What can I do right now that will make a difference? What needs to change? It wasn't until my Freshman year of high school that I found the career that could combine so many of my passions and put me on the road to making change and - alongside countless others - hopefully one day save the world. For me, that career was Wildlife Biology, with a focus on biodiversity hotspot preservation, working towards a sustainable way of living globally, and environmental work to reduce climate change and combat our existing environmental impacts. After all, climate change and the loss of key ecosystems is arguably the greatest risk to humanity in this day and age. As key ecosystems are lost we erase the potential of cures and life-changing discoveries that exist in nature. All the while exasperating climate change with the removal and fragmentation of these carbon-sequestering habitats. Climate change as the most pressing threat, threatens billions of lives and the inhabitability of the planet we call home, and the worst part is, that it will all have been avoidable and fixable. That is exactly what I intend to play a role in addressing with my career. As a Wildlife Biology student, climate change and human impact are reoccurring themes in the disappearance of diverse and critical life forms from our planet, and ones in dire need of addressing. My career goals include; preserving biodiversity hotspots on an international scale, working to preserve and restore fragmented/damaged ecosystems, conserving endangered species, advocating for wildlife and environmental protection legislation, working with communities across the world to find sustainable solutions for living in harmony with nature, and raising global awareness about such issues. Beyond my career, I am passionate about social justice, political rights, and helping domestic animals and people through volunteer work and personal commitments. I have a number of volunteer commitments and plan to continue to expand the work I do as a volunteer to other organizations. While "saving the world" is a far-reaching goal for one person, I can at least do my part to make this world a better place in the endeavors I take on and the day-to-day opportunities I encounter. If each of us does our part when presented with the opportunity to make a difference be it on a small or a large scale, then this world could truly become a safe and sustainable place for all life that exists here.

Science - specifically that which exists in the multitude of diverse ecosystems on our planet- has always been of great interest to me and a strong passion of mine. In every nook of the natural environment and in much of the built environment as well, you can see the diverse species and organisms that exist to create a perfectly balanced life system. Even as a young girl I was passionate about learning and observing the aspects of science I encountered in my day-to-day life and sharing the knowledge I gained with others, I fondly remember the nature walks I led for family and friends as I pointed out the intricate details of the surrounding ecosystems, from the tadpoles that lived in the nearby ditch, to the speckled Killdeer eggs nestled into the gravel I shared my fascination with everyone I encountered. I loved pointing out these little aspects of nature to anyone and everyone who crossed my path, the hope being to spread compassion for these creatures and little interconnected ecosystems of unseen creatures that exist within our very community. My family and I took the time to make our home as welcoming to wildlife as possible, creating habitats for snakes, toads, insects, and birds and raising awareness of how others could do the same, but our efforts were on such a small scale, one property of land set to provide habitat for the creatures of this world is enough, this wildlife and human coexistence has to be conducted at a larger scale, and it became my more developed passion to see to it that these changes were made. It wasn't until High School that I came across the career I had always dreamt of to this point, a career that would allow me to make an impactful difference on a widespread scale, and that career was Wildlife Biology. While I have extensive goals for what I want to do with this career, I couldn't wait around for another 8 years to really get in the field and make a difference. In High School, I began the search to find ways that I could start making a difference for wildlife and nature now, my family and I came across and got involved in many local efforts in tese areas. The first was the Colorado Pika Proect, in which we now volunteer as Citizen Scientists, collecting key data on pika habitat and populations in the Rocky Mountains for future conservation applications in the face of climate change. We were an honorable mention our first year as volunteers for the work we did, and this year we have already surveyed nearly a dozen sites. The work we do with this project is so fulfilling and rewarding that we have made the decision to expand our citizen scientist work to include more projects next summer. The other half of the volunteer work I and my family have partiipated in is with a local restoration group, we have helped with seed collections, tree planting, and other restoration projects to restore the key habitat our local wildlife depend on. My advice to anyone else who is passionate about ensuring our world is a safe, humane, and sustainable place for years and tyears to come is, don;'t wait to get involved, there are plently of oppurtunities to start making a difference long before you maintain your degree, and secondly, involve others in your passions. My volunteer work has brought me and my family to some of our favorite places to spend time, working to better the world we call home, what can be better than that?

The memory is still very clear to me, I am standing at the start of a local nature trail pridefully holding my camera cradled in my hand, admiring the summer chirp of the cicadas singing from the trees, one of a multitude of creatures that create each of these magnificent trees into an ecosystem of their own. It is my favorite time of the evening, and the Twilight lighting presents the lake in an even more vivid and lovely tone than usual. I turn back to where my family is gathering, I love leading these little family nature walks, enjoying nature, and raising awareness and compassion for every one of the little magnificent creatures we encounter. As we walk along the gravel path the unmistakable cool breeze signals the late summer soon to close to the most stunning season of the year, fall. The maple leaves slightly tinted with red rustle along the route. As the insects and creatures of the evening make their calls and scuttle across the trails to their homes my family and I take turns guessing at their identities. The wonderful landscapes and stunning creatures that grace the natural ecosystem we encounter every day have always mesmerized me, just as they do my nature-loving parents and brother. Nature has been the canvas for countless special memories that I recall from my childhood, from running through the open fields with my Mom examining gorgeous native varieties of flowers and the diverse insects that survived off of them, to walking through the chilled early morning air with my Dad as we came across a stunning woodpecker getting his morning meal from a nearby tree. Nature is full of moments and aspects to be enjoyed, memories to be made and adventure to be had. It is not present for human convenience or exploitation and it is time we realize that and turn to a humane and sustainable way of living in relation to the natural world and the wonders it contains. My entire life I have advocated for nature, wildlife, and the environment, from personal decisions to sharing my passions and knowledge with others and fighting on behalf of these priceless aspects of our world. This passion became a life dedication and career path. It wasn't until Freshman year in Highschool however that I came across the career that could bring all of these passions together and empower me to make a difference, Wildlife Biology. Now a Freshman at Colorado State University and an avid volunteer for citizen science and habitat restoration projects locally, I am already well on my way to a legacy of making this world a better place - or better worded, preserving and restoring the natural perfection and beauty this world already contains, for the benefit of nature and humans. The mountain of my life journey is no doubt a steep, treacherous path, carved out with obstacles and undoubted rock slides of failures, but I am determined that we will succeed in reaching the top of this mountain and leaving the mountainsides we encounter on the way a more natural and protected environment than before, one capable of sustaining generation after generation of wildlife and humans in coexistence. When I plant my flag at the top of that mountain, it will read; "Never forget the glorious existence of nature, wildlife, and the environment in your decisions, work with these god given natural forces to achieve a great future for the world as a whole, and never fail to strive for an even more sustainable and hopeful future for all forms of life."

"Follow the Golden Rule, Treat others the way you want to be treated". This was a value long instilled in me throughout my childhood. My parents have always been the kind of people to lend a hand to others in need, from stopping to help someone with car trouble, to buying food for individuals suffering from addiction and always treating others they encountered in day-to-day life with compassion and respect. Having been raised in such a way, I am able to recognize the importance of helping others in need. If I were the one standing on the street in the heat of summer looking for just enough money to feed my family, the one suffering from addiction, domestic violence, or mental illness, the one who finds themselves in an unfortunate situation wishing someone would step up to defend them, I would want others to help me, and therefore I always do everything I can to help others. Standing up for your own rights and the rights of others is a key component to ensuring society functions as it should. I make it a point to take action when I see a situation in which my intervention could help someone get by. I am glad to offer some support, a meal or some cash, to someone in need. My life calling is to work to make a difference for animals and the environment, and for me, helping others means standing up for and supporting all living, sentient in need of support - be it a person or an animal. My family and I have taken in dozens of animals in need over the years, from our amazing little Tuxedo who showed up at our doorstep starving and with a wound (that appeared to be a nail gun) through his paw, to our formerly abandoned German Shepherd, and the neglected mother cat that showed up at our doorstep with her former kitten in tow and a variety of others, my family has nursed these animals back to health and given them a forever home where they no longer have to suffer. At the farm animal sanctuary, I currently volunteer with, I spend time with many animals that have been mistreated or lived less than ideal lives in their short times here on Earth, and as I spend time with each of them and help them come out of their shells and show their true personalities I know that this work is worth it. My next steps in terms of volunteer work during college will act to expand the help I provide to both people and animals in need and I look forward to making a difference in this world for each individual I am capable of helping.

The story begins on a vast stretch of land, extending over 50 acres of flat plateaus and hills, overlooking the stunning merge of mountain and city views so often associated with the magnificent state of Colorado. Atop one of those very hills is perched a magnificent house, the front is made up of large windows that reach from ceiling to floor, as the sun sets the windows capture the pinks and blues that radiate from the sky bringing the house an even more magnificent ambiance. The modern architecture - a light gray exterior, an abundance of windows, and stunning wood-carved doors surrounded by a wrap-around porch, a large balcony juts out from the upstairs bedrooms and trees, and native flowers and shrubs abound. The property is full of wildlife, as they live their best lives in harmony with the people who inhabit this magnificent home, habitats have been delicately put together for the wildlife, bird baths, feeders, and native pollinator gardens fill the nooks of the property. At one section, a large barn of stunning wood sits backed to a large pasture, only a portion of the land that exists, set aside for rescued farm animals, from the black and white paint that prances across the pasture, to the pygmy goats and pot-bellied pigs that roam the plot of land. A gazebo-style catio - home to a variety of well-abled and special needs cats when the weather is nice - sits covered in its layers of creeping charlie. But the stunning land and architecture of the home are only the tip of this stunning dream home. Full of nature-inspired decor, wood-carved tables, stunning cabinetry, and an elaborately carved fireplace casing surrounding the electric fireplace the owners' love of nature and animals is clear at every step. The family room is a spacious room overlooking the property, with a brown faux leather wrap-around couch, an aquarium coffee table, and a large TV suspended above the fireplace. The floors and walls are of neutral colors with a dark gray pop of color behind the fireplace, the window lighting sets the mood for the room be it a stormy night signaling time to nestle down and watch a movie or the lights of summer inspiring work and productivity. The home contains four bedrooms, each designed to the desire of its owner, the master bedroom features a large bed with a red accent wall, a large outlooking balcony, and a fireplace divider wall separating the bed from the Television and sitting room across the bedroom. Japanese doors open to a large main bathroom complete with a stand-alone porcelain tub, shower, and all of the other key bathroom amenities, a walk-in closet is accessible from the bedroom or bath, full of clothes for everyday occasions to high-end gatherings. The kitchen is reasonably large for family cooking, with marble table tops and a similar classic/traditional theme of wood-stained cabinetry, light contrasting walls, and stainless steel or chrome-colored appliances adding to the modernized and streamlined design of the kitchen. The dining room is able to accommodate the most particular of guests with its gorgeous mountain views, comfortable luxury chairs, and oak dining table. And, the entire house is maintained at the perfect temperature through geothermal energy. The house and surrounding property are home to expanses of nature, wildlife, domestic animals, and humans - all living in harmony - spending time in proximity and apart - as life should be for all of Earth's inhabitants. But until we reach that point, homes like this home remain an oasis of perfection for all lucky enough to call them home.

It's that time of year again, summer draws to a close as signs of Fall creep up, my favorite season has nearly begun and it's time for that spooky thrill of Halloween so many of us long for. Fall is a welcome bout of cooler weather, spooky decorations, thrilling haunted adventures, pumpkin spice, costumes, fun with family, and classic Disney favorites filling the screen as we nestle down for a warm taste of pumpkin bread. The night is just around the corner when we will settle down to watch The Haunted Mansion, Halloween Town, The Heffalump, Hocus Pocus, and other classic Halloween specials of Disney, traditional films that have filled the expanse of our television screen for over 18 years....and counting. Perhaps my favorite thing about Disney is the memories it holds and the connections that are built around its stories. Our family's traditional Disney movies extend far past the Halloween holiday to nearly every holiday we celebrate, from St. Patricks Day's Luck of the Irish to Day of the Dead's Coco. Memories of sitting with my huge volumes of Disney stories in my lap as I practiced reading to my mom and dad during Kindergarten and later, much more confidently, read to my little brother before bed. Stories my parents would read at bedtime tucked away under the comforter in the dark of night, stories that even now I can recall with great detail. The stories these volumes held not only opened my eyes to various viewpoints, but inspired and entertained me from my Childhood to adulthood, and brought my family together for our traditional family time to make special memories that will no doubt last our entire lifetimes. When so many memories and places my parents knew as children have been removed, destroyed, and erased only to live on as fading memories, Disney movies from my parent's childhood have managed to connect us all to a similar childhood memory as we first watched such classics and read such original stories together. Disney has played such a delicate and special role in my life - as it has for many - and it will continue to do so for future generations. My favorite Disney memories will be passed on to the children I will one day have, I will read those same classic tales that were ingrained into my parents and my lives, and share those same traditional movies with them each holiday. Disney holds a very special gift, a place in the hearts of millions globally, generational memories across the world, and the ability to draw meaningful connections to historical events and ways of living. I will always cherish Disney for these very reasons.

It was a normal day for me in the year just before high school as I was researching the variety of career paths I would be able to pursue after college. As a lifelong animal lover and environmental activist longing to make a lasting difference in the world, I knew I had found the right path when I finally reached the description of a Wildlife Biologist. If I got employed with a non-profit, my future (on the more glamorous side of the career) would entail world travels, saving endangered species, rebuilding damaged ecosystems, and advocating/raising awareness for environmental and animal welfare policy globally. The career was a perfect fit, and I longed for the days that I could get involved in the field. Then, I got accepted into my school's National Honor Society, which required me to fulfill a certain number of community service/volunteer hours, I already cared for community cats in my neighborhood by assisting with local TNR efforts and maintaining feeding stations for the (now stabilized) cat population in my neighborhood. But, I wanted to gain more experience volunteering and the thought struck that I could get an edge with volunteer work related to my future career choices. While a Wildlife Biology career checked off nearly all of the boxes for my future career, my passion for training animals which had begun at just four years old, was still (and still is) running strong. For that reason, I decided I wanted to start my own animal training business in addition to my Wildlife Biologist career, so I set out to get experience in both fields. It wasn't long before I came across Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, a sanctuary that takes in abused and neglected farm animals and provides them with lifelong care. I signed up to be an Animal Care volunteer for a weekly shift and soon added the responsibility of providing one-on-one enrichment and clicker training with the residents there. Within my first year there, I received an award for the number of hours I put in. I discovered the world of citizen science opportunities right in the very mountain range my family and I frequented in the summer, Rocky Mountain National Park, and got my parents and brother involved with me in collecting data on pika populations at assigned sites during the summer months. The first year as volunteers we were an honorable mention for site visits, and this year we are on track to take the record for most sites visited in a year. And finally, My family and I volunteered with an organization that restores key habitats through seed collections and tree planting throughout Colorado, my family and I planted the most trees on our service day. In all of my life endeavors, I have striven to do the best I can and achieve whatever I set my mind to. Volunteering has opened a lifelong door along the path of life - a door that allows me to make a difference for causes I am passionate about while also pursuing a career that will bring me lifelong fulfillment. For me, my volunteer work and the service I give to the community is no less a part of my fulfillment and identity in life than my academics and career choices. I am proud to say that volunteer work has become a core value of mine and one that I will continue to nurture throughout my time here on Earth.

Stress and College are terms too often associated, and while it is true that life transitions (especially when they bring with them new obligations and commitments) are high-stress, this stress doesn't have to define these critical life milestones. Mental health is a critical component of both overall well-being and success. While stress is unavoidable at times, there are several principles that I do my best to follow in my day-to-day life to prevent stress from hindering my plans and goals in life. For me, a quote my parents once told me from George Burns comes to mind, "There are two kinds of problems, one you can do something about and one you can't. The one you can do something about, do it! The one you can't, don't worry about it, because there is nothing you can do." While this principle is easier said than done, I make it a point to analyze what is stressing me out and decide what kind of problem it is, if I can change the cause of the stress I make a plan to take action, and if I can't fix the problem, I do my best to let go of it and recognize that it is out of my control. Even when you narrow down the problems into these two categories, those problems you can and need to do something about can be overwhelming. As a former chronic procrastinator, I know the stress of combining weeks or months of work into one short last-minute time frame. Conquering procrastination is a leap in the right direction to avoid stress. For me, I began using rewards for completing a task I didn't want to do. Allowing myself a break in nature, reading a book, listening to some music during my next task, or spending time with my family and pets were all sufficient rewards to ensure I got the tasks done. Another strategy I use when facing a long list of tasks is to compartmentalize mentally. My dad has always given me the advice to "compartmentalize", meaning focus on one (most important or pressing task) task at a time and don't stress about what else you have to do. And finally, self-care - For me a simple day spent in nature, reading, going out with family, focusing on my hobbies, or participating in the fulfilling work of volunteering can be enough to help restore my energy for the coming tasks. Stress doesn't have to plague our every moment, and by practicing self-care, stress management, and allowing ourselves some downtime, we can all eliminate stress from our day-to-day lives and be the best, most productive, and most fulfilled versions of ourselves. As someone who has always strived to be successful and a high achiever, it is in my best interest to set aside time for self-care, relaxation and take the time to prevent stress in order to be my best self and complete my best work.

When high school came - like many students - I felt it was a good time to get involved in my community, earn some experience, make a difference, and build up my college application. Little did I know the lifelong passion that would stem from this volunteer work. As COVID finally loosened its grasp of limitations that had plagued my first years of high school, I leaped at the chance to get involved in volunteer work. I began by volunteering with a farm animal sanctuary, citizen science program, and habitat restoration organization, and from these volunteer endeavors, a lifelong passion was born. From the moment I stepped foot at the farm animal sanctuary for my first shift, I was welcomed by once-abused and neglected animals now living their lives to the fullest and grateful staff members united in the mission to make a difference. I was hooked. As my duties expanded at the sanctuary I met two amazing residents who I was partnered with to provide one-on-one training and enrichment. Darjeeling (an inspiring turkey full of personality) and Rowena (a shy chicken who, while full of spirit, was refusing to take her meds). As I witnessed the joy and change I was capable of bringing to the lives of these animals, my love of volunteering was established. In my endeavors through the remainder of the year, looking back at the numerous sites my family and I had surveyed for the citizen science effort we were involved in and the trees and shrubs we planted that now acted as a critical home and ecosystem to the struggling species of wildlife that live in Colorado - The difference made through volunteering was inspiring and fulfilling, and I gained over four times the hours I needed for my NHS commitment within the first year as a volunteer. While I am currently adapting to the changed lifestyle that college brings, I continue to volunteer with those organizations that sparked my love of volunteering and have multiple other volunteer opportunities on my radar (including rehabilitating wildlife and enriching and training shelter animals to increase their adoptability) which I intend to pursue next summer. Since my childhood, I have longed to give back to the community and make a real difference for the causes I am passionate about, volunteer work has given me the window to make a difference in ways that are and are not related to my career(s). I look forward to continuing and expanding my volunteer efforts throughout my life, and continuing to serve my community.

My parents have always been the kind of people that would help someone in need whenever they were given the chance. Selflessly pulling over on their way to make a deadline to help those whose car had broken down or who were asking for food along the side of the road. The kind of selfless, inspiring individuals that contribute to our society as good samaritins. As firm believers in Karma and helping others, they always say, "It will come back to us somehow". I too believe that helping others and doing your part in a less than perfect society will bring you good karma - among other benifits. Study after study has proven that people who help others and give service to causes they care about are happier, healthier, more fulfilled in life, and live longer. Helping oters and giving service are a neccesity in this society, if you can afford to give your time and money occsionaly to help others, you are fulfilling a moral duty to your society and bettering yourself. I make it a point in life to embody selflessness, while personal fulfillment is important in my life, much of my fulfillment does and will come from the service I provide. As a Wildlife Biologist, much of my work will embody selflessness as I work in harsh conditions and difficult situations to ensure the survival of the worlds ecosystems, but the work will all be worth it. As a lifelong animal rescuer selflessness is required, you must go out of your way to protect and save the animals who cross your path and despite your selfish wishes for an animal, it is important to know when to let go and when to be selfless in what choice are best for the animal. Volunteering is also a key aspect of my life journey, I care for mutliple cat colonies, volunteer at a farm animal sanctuary, habitat restoration orginization, citizen science project and data organization volunteer - organizing trail cam images for Wildlife Biologists in the field globally. Volunteer work is a fulfilling and selfless activity, and one that I plan to contine and expand in the future. I am thankfull to have been raised by parents that embody, service, selflessness, and the moral to help those in need from people to animals. The sacrafices you make in the name of helping another, are always worth the work. My volunteer work and service are a constant reminder of the benifits service holds

As a highly music-centric family, my parents and I would listen to music, watch music videos, and discuss the deeper meaning of songs regularly, it was during one such discussion that my dad first introduced me to "Shake It Off", - which quickly became one of my favorite Taylor Swift Songs. You can hear a song during an important time in your life and forever associate it with that time, Taylor Swift's songs have been no exception. Memories of listening to Taylor Swift on my headsets in Middle School as I considered my personal future as an individual, the vivid memory of first watching "Shake it Off" with my dad, and the memories of my Mom and I singing along to the Taylor Swift songs on the radio, have made the "1989" Album a deeply integrated part of my childhood, adolescent, and soon adult, memories. Taylor Swift is an immensely inspirational artist, who has overcome many obstacles, stereotypes, and haters on her path to success. As a young girl, she knew what she wanted to do with her life and took on the many struggles to reach her goals. Now an extremely popular songwriter and singer she has carved a unique legacy for herself, one that inspires others to jump in and go after their dreams, keep fighting, and prevail past the rejections and "haters" - if you do that, you can gain success. Like her, I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do with my life - working to help the environment and endangered species while still dedicating time to working with domestic animals as well. I began early, training my first cat with lure training at 4, my first cat with clicker training at 10 (the same age Taylor began singing), and my first adventure cat at 12. I worked hard to learn about and research the topics I was interested in and gained strong and diverse knowledge. Firsthand I witnessed the assumptions of others older than myself that I didn't know what I was talking about or wasn't as knowledgeable as they were, just as Taylor did in her earlier years. The lyrics to each of Taylor's songs are able to connect with her audience on the basis of shared or recognizable emotions, inspiring individuals to do their best. "1989" has been my favorite album of hers since I discovered it as a little girl, but - like most Swifties - it is a feat to think of a favorite song. "Shake It Off" holds a very special meaning on her extensive journey to reach her goals in life, I have always been inspired to take on a variety of responsibilities in my journey to leave a positive and lasting impact on the world, I want to expand (and continue) my volunteer work, start a non-profit, start my own positive reinforcement animal training business, and pursue a career as a Wildlife Biologist and Nature photographer. These goals seem extensive to many and impossible to some, but I am determined to lead a fulfilled life. "Shake It Off" encourages people to keep going and not allow themselves to be stopped by others, everyone - especially those on the path to success - will face haters who don't believe in them or want to see them fail - this song is a consistent inspiration in my life and the lives of others to keep going and achieve success. As Taylor Swift once said; "There are two ways you can go with pain; You can let it destroy you or you can use it as fuel".

My name is Marissa Fuhrmeister, I am an incoming Freshman at Colorado State University this fall as a Wildlife Biology major. My career goals include preserving the remaining biodiversity hotspots, conserving endangered animal species, reforesting fragmented habitats, advocating for legislation to create a more sustainable future, raising awareness, and educating people worldwide about ways to take care of our world - overall working to create a more humane, sustainable, and mutualistic future for all of god's creatures. From a young age, I recognized my calling to work with animals and the environment and sought to make a difference, from leading nature walks for my friends and family - pointing out the species I knew and sharing my knowledge of green living - to rehabilitating wounded insects, I was always passionate about wildlife and nature and leaped at the opportunity to raise awareness or defend my passions just as I do to this day. While I am passionate about my future career, I want to make a difference in so many other ways as well, currently, and throughout my life, I plan to use the avenue of community service and volunteer work to fulfill my other passions. Our world holds the potential for a humane, sustainable, and safe future for all, but we - as stewards of our environment - must recognize this potential and reverse our parasitic way of living to instead be supportive of the natural environment god has created. Books and films offer insight into the world and shed light on a variety of world happenings that people are unaware of or just do not possess a connection to, in times of significant violence and horror - such as the Holocaust - novels, movies, and writings such as Elie Wiesel's "Night" and Anne Frank's Diary have shown us the true events that have taken place across the world, movies and films connect people globally to the plight of other populations, cultures, and societies and build awareness and compassion. These very mediums have shown me warnings of our future should we continue on our present path, shed light on the behavior and threats to endangered species, informed me of ways to make a difference, and brought me to discover my ideal career as a Wildlife Biologist. I will seek to use the life that I have been blessed with to make a difference and secure a humane and sustainable future for the coming generations. As a child, I was fascinated by the creatures featured in shows like "Animal Planet" and "Wild Kratts", they opened my eyes to the plight of animals who I'd never had the pleasure of seeing in the wild in my home of Colorado. Reading from my stack of environmental and endangered species books gave me a strong knowledge of the ecosystems around me, and Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, and Steve Irwin's accounts of their expeditions and research drew me to a career in wildlife conservation. People care most when they can see the difference, when they can witness the loss of an iconic species and see the once flourishing natural habitat left destroyed by human activity. Without these mediums, so many of us would remain unaware of the plight of wildlife and the environment in other regions of the world. People live in regions of such destruction and loss without really taking notice of what is happening or knowing how others have made changes. As a Wildlife Biologist, I will bridge gaps between communities, raise awareness of the ideal future, and fight on the front lines to achieve my goals, for a better world.

With every trauma, loss, and failure, there is a lesson to be learned or a mission to be taken on, that is my belief and one that has repeatedly been affirmed in my personal life. God and my personal faith have helped me on numerous occasions throughout my life journey to find a life purpose and make a difference, most notably through exposure and awareness. Since I was old enough to express my opinions, I have been passionate about a variety of issues - environmental and societal justice, animal welfare, and conserving/improving the world we call home, - as a little girl these passions were expressed with the simple words "I want to save the world", but as my age and experiences continued to increase, that statement has developed into a more distinct path to make a difference. Beginning in the year 2014, my family and I began caring for colonies of community cats in our neighborhood - providing food, water, and shelter, and getting them spayed/neutered to humanely reduce overpopulation - through the new perspective of a cat caretaker we witnessed the awful treatment cats endure (even when they are wearing collars and known to be cared for well by a human). We witnessed cats being shot, poisoned, stolen, tortured, and beaten, many of the cats we took in came from such situations (one starving after having a nail gun shot through his foot - likely having nailed him to something so that he was unable to find food). Little help existed, no network existed to discuss with other caretakers, and these colony caretakers were using their hard-earned resources to support these cats and do their best to protect them from the cruelty of the world. No one existed to tell them what to do, you could call the police but they wouldn't care, you could try to get a lawyer but they cost thousands of dollars and no one knew who had done this, or if they did, they wouldn't share. Such experiences from the view of a cat caretaker inspired me with the vision to start my own non-profit (which I expect to found in college), a non-profit that will provide free food, spay/neuter, and transport to appointments to support the cats, build a network of cat caretakers throughout Colorado and eventually beyond, mobilize community watch efforts to discover those individuals causing harm to animals in an area and work with lawyers to fight for the legal prosecution of such individuals as well as animal protection policies. A non-profit that will unite communities, protect animals, and offer the resources people need to continue or start caring for cats. My life calling has always been to make a difference, especially through the lens of animal welfare and environmental issues, a difference that radiates to the world in its entirety. God has led me to discover my calling to work with animals and nature and has led me throughout life in the direction of a Wildlife Biology degree - having witnessed the devastation of natural habitats and species I now plan to combat this in my career and make a difference. While my non-profit and career will allow me to make a difference, I also plan to continue my current volunteer efforts and take on many more to help both people and animals. I have faith in my ability to make a difference, the ability of humankind to join together to fight for change, and faith that we will develop a humane, sustainable, and safe future for the coming generations, a legacy we can all be proud of.

I squirt my cruelty-free, vegan toothpaste from the recycled/recyclable tube onto my brush to start my morning routine before a quick shower to start the day. I eat my breakfast on compostable paper plates or hand-washed dishes and pour my water from a 5-gal recycled water bottle delivered to us every so often, a switch my family and I have made from our old single-use gallons of water. My family has always tried to be environmentally conscious, we use energy-efficient appliances, and more sustainable household products (switching our lights to more efficient LEDs and switching to sustainable brands) and try to combine trips to reduce transportation pollution. We are currently working to reduce single-use plastic use, eat a more sustainable diet, and find other ways to reduce our global impact. Millions of individuals inhabit this world, only some of them paying any attention whatsoever to their "carbon footprint" and even fewer acting to change it. We go about our day laden with single-use plastics for "convenience", polluting the environment and overusing our resources for "comfort". More and more people are making the conscious choice to reduce their carbon footprint, but even people who are trying to change for the better, like my family and I, are still not living "sustainably". If we want to have a future in this world as we know it, we must focus on protecting and restoring our planet, we must switch our way of living from the parasitic species leeching the environment of all that it has to offer to a mutualistic circular living society in which our impact to the natural world is minimized and eventually even eliminated. It is time that our way of living no longer has to be sustainable and humane "by choice". As my family and I spend time scouring the shelves for "eco-friendly" products with biodegradable paper packaging and "compostable" products within, it is clear why so many people - especially those unaware of the harm every individual's daily choices inflict on the environment - chose harmful products for convenience. I want to see change, and I intend to push for this change now as an activist and in my future as a Wildlife Biologist, witnessing this harm on an even closer scientific scale. For one, I want to encourage stores to take a pledge of humane, sustainable products, banning animal testing and certain plastic packaging from being sold in their stores (or at least increasing selection and making their own store brands fully sustainable). The government must enact change through legislation as well, putting bans on plastic packaging and offering incentives for sustainable, recyclable, compostable packaging and products. Another way the government could play an increased role in helping citizens reduce their carbon footprint (or at least its impact), is to enact a carbon pollution tax based on a simple calculator to determine the tax each individual must pay to offset their emissions, this tax could then be put towards other environmental initiatives. Through actions by the government and large corporations, we can make sustainable living a simple, encouraged, and incentivized "choice", a lasting choice, and a large jump in the right direction. A choice that all citizens can find "convenient" and "comfortable".

Volunteering has quickly become an addictive passion of mine since the time I first started, community service and volunteerism had long been instilled in my life I just didn't realize it yet. When I was accepted into my high school National Honor Society chapter, looking around the corner to my time at Colorado State University, pursuing a career - Wildlife Biology - that requires field experience and time spent volunteering, I was tasked with finding a way to accumulate my volunteer hours. During my search, I discovered Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, a sanctuary for abused and neglected farm animals that utilizes both volunteers and paid staff in their non-profit organization. As I toured the facility during orientation I was addicted. From the horses and donkeys playfully interacting along the fence line, to the goats and sheep that "flocked" to greet me as I entered the barn and the dozens of birds who made themselves heard in greeting, these animals were truly happy. My required 24 hours of volunteer service that year quickly multiplied into over 100 hours in my first year, I joined the Enrichment team partnering one-on-one for positive reinforcement training with two wonderful birds full of personality, Darjeeling and Rowena. The excitement they demonstrated as they would follow me for our training sessions, the clear affection the goats, sheep, pigs, and horses demonstrated, and the passionate community who cared for these individuals truly compelled me to be a part of this organization for the foreseeable future. I have now joined the ROOTS program, a group of individuals who work on extensive projects to improve life for their animal residents, and won an "Animal Care Award" for the work I have done there. In addition to my volunteer work at the sanctuary, I volunteer in multiple other capacities for a variety of organizations and am currently searching for new community science and involvement activities to pursue in 2024. Volunteering has allowed me to not only gain experience with animals and in the field for my future careers as an Animal Trainer and Wildlife Biologist but has allowed me to grow as a person - the compassion, perspectives, and knowledge I have gained have inspired me that I am on the right track in pursuing a life of enrichment, joy, and satisfaction. These animals are a reminder every week of the true impact I can make, their gratitude and happiness make the work their human community puts in all worth it.

Examining the many living creatures and diverse ecosystems, observing the behavior of animals, and spending time analyzing the many fascinating aspects of nature was and is a daily discovery waiting to happen. From that little girl, soaking in all of the knowledge she could and looking for ways to make a difference, to the young woman embarking on the journey she'd so often fantasized about - a journey of science and making a difference, science has always been an integral interest of mine. There is a "science" to everything that we experience in life, but it's time we stop pretending we have all the answers, phrases like "there has to be a scientific explanation for this" are all too often tossed around, of course, science holds the answers, but we have yet to discover all that science has to teach us, and we likely never will. As a future Wildlife Biologist, it will be my job to answer questions, to find scientific explanations for the evolving trends and patterns resulting from human activity, and to discover and implement the solutions hidden in science. Most individuals don't realize that by devastating natural ecosystems and forcing hundreds of species into extinction, we erase our chances for solving our problems, our chances of finding the scientific evidence and explanations that we long for. Elephants - one of many iconic endangered species - can quite possibly hold the cure to cancer and sharks have the ability to prevent bacteria from latching onto their skin, an innovative discovery that can help us avoid other pandemics, and these are only a couple of the innovative discoveries held in nature that we have already discovered. Imagine how many cures are out there just waiting to be discovered. We - as a society and stewards of our environment - must embrace the keys that nature holds to a better future for all, keys that can unlock a more humane, sustainable, and viable future - traits that the path we are currently traveling on lacks. Nature and animals are capable of showing us how to survive and thrive in this world, and it is time that we switch our interactions with nature and the environment, from the parasitic species leeching the natural world of its resources and depleting it to the point of no longer being capable of supporting life, to the stewards of a balanced society living in a mutualistic state with nature, and the animals that call our many natural ecosystems home. As a Wildlife Biologist, I will work to preserve the biodiversity of our world, restore fragmented habitats, and conserve and restore endangered animal species, preserving the ecosystem and the animals within it that may hold our future cures will open doors of possibility for future humane and sustainable exploration. As the species with the most power to support or destroy the world we all depend on, it is our responsibility to be responsible stewards of this earth and the resources it provides us with. Science is the answer to our problems and it's time we listen and discover the lessons it has to teach us.

Leadership, to me, is; making a change, it's setting an example, it's taking the initiative, it's leading others to a common goal. Leadership is the act of making a difference by example. This world is always in need of another great leader, leaders who can push us toward a better future, and inspire us to reach our potential in making a difference and building a legacy... But the most impactful leaders are those that lead by example, those that are out there making a difference and inspiring others to join them along the way. Leaders stand in the midst of the crowd, laboring and fighting along with regular citizens to find and create change. There are, and always will be, struggles that threaten the future we imagined. Today those threats are prevalent in many forms; climate change, mass extinction, pollution, the threat of war, and looming diseases waiting to become our next pandemic. But, with strong leadership, it is possible to not only prevail but to create a more sustainable and humane future for the coming generations, people want to make a difference, they want to create a better future, all they need is some direction as to what to do to reach these goals. Individuals like Greta Thunberg and so many others are leaders in today's society, they give out the solutions, tell others how to make change, and lead others to a better future, and all concerned individuals have to do is follow their lead. I have always strived to be a leader; someone who inspires others, makes a difference, and sets an example for those around them - to do their best and follow their dreams. I seek to be a leader in life, a leader in change, and a leader to a better world. As a little girl, I led friends, cousins, and family on nature walks, pointing out the plants and animals that I recognized. "This is milkweed, it is the only plant where Monarchs (a declining species) can lay their eggs", and sharing bits of knowledge about environmentally conscious living. It was and still is my belief that every individual making a change can truly help the environment and animals. I've been known to seize the opportunity to lead others and set an example on multiple occasions and always work to lead by example. I conduct myself with confidence, determination, and guidance, am always happy to share my knowledge on any topic, open-mindedly listen to opposing viewpoints, and act as an example to others and a role model to younger generations, inspiring them to live a humane and conscious life. As a former child activist, I use every moment to empower children to make a difference, they carry our future and together they can ensure that the world continues on a positive path. Great leaders are born from all walks of life, and it is time that we unite to make a change and lead others once more as the leaders of our past have. There will never be a time when leadership is no longer important, but there is no better time than right now to become a leader. Leading can be as simple as inspiring a young family member, leading close individuals to a better path, or standing up for what you believe in. Everyone has the potential to emerge as a leader and make a difference, why not start now?

Books - a fantastical window to a variety of perspectives, events, and tales both true and false - have always mesmerized me, reading books open-mindedly allows you to take in a variety of information and perspectives to grow your awareness of the world, and society, the past and the future. Since I learned to read, I have found some of the greatest comforts and knowledge in the soft and familiarly aromatic pages of a good book. From fantasy, educational fiction, mystery, non-fiction, and classic novels I have seen other points of view, gained knowledge, and been made to think in depth about life concepts. Books have allowed me to grow into a connected, aware, and informed individual ready to take on society. Venturing into the forest of neatly printed black letters of a new author or genre, I found myself absorbed in the story, feeling for the characters, and tense with anticipation of what would happen. Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys books I borrowed from my dad filled my shelves, while I loved a good fictional mystery, thriller, or adventure novel, Non-fictions took up a good deal of my reading list as well. As a child, I was intrigued by wildlife and nature and longed to experience the wildlife of exotic regions and learn how to help the endangered animals that inhabited these regions, my parents purchased me a stack of "Endangered Species" books, and I read each with care, learning of poaching, deforestation, and climate change - I was inspired to help. I read tales of Steve Irwin, Diane Fossey, and Jane Goodall interacting with animals in the wild, having the time of their lives all while saving animals was really possible. Elements of the once fictional story I enjoyed as a child "The Jungle Book" existed in a real career, Wildlife Biology. These stories inspired me to pursue a career in Wildlife Biology, during high school I read books about the true life of a Wildlife Biologist, it wasn't all fun and games but these people loved their work, they were passionate about what they were doing, and they were out there making a difference. I was sold. I began searching for colleges and eventually found Colorado State University, where I am now a student, where I could become one of those individuals making a difference in the lives of animals and ensuring every species had its place in a growing human society, balancing the human and animal worlds in a state of mutualism and coexistence. Wildlife Biology is an amazing field that many passionate individuals pursue, that is how the field will succeed and a sign that the compassion for animals, nature, and the environment is growing, this also means that jobs in Wildlife Biology are competitive and can take time to locate. So what would I do in college and beyond as a side gig to ensure I always had a stable income? Once more, the answer was found in reading, I read books as a child about people who worked with animals, training them to display their endearing antics in front of an audience of thousands or millions of people, Karen Pryor books and clicker training how-to's filled a good section of my shelves by the time I reached middle school (an ever-growing section), I'd trained my first cats before I could read, and I was hooked on animal training as my solid career. Reading has brought me many opportunities in life, connected me to my future careers, and inspired me to take action. It is without a doubt, a lifelong passion.

It was a typical day in online high school, I had just begun my first semester of 10th grade and I was at my desk as usual about to enter another live Zoom session for my new German class. My main hope was that I could leave this session with some insight into how to succeed in my German class, but I left with more than that, during that session, I met a determined community of students and a dedicated and caring role model teacher who would help me reach my goals in life and be a source of inspiration to accomplish all that I long to in life. As I entered that class, I was immediately welcomed and within the first hour of having met Mr. Ewart, I had gotten a chance to practice my German vocabulary/pronunciation, and met a very inspiring individual. The Beatle's "Komm gib mir deine Hand" song that started out each of our sessions soon became the anthem of my favorite class each week, the song that marked another session of community building, learning, and discussion. Throughout my year with Mr. Ewart, I learned more about German than in the remaining years of high school, his way of teaching took into account the personality and individuality of each of his students, building on their learning strengths and helping guide them through overcoming their weaknesses. For me, he was/is a source of inspiration, a supportive individual, and an amazing teacher. When I was struggling with a concept he was happy to help for however long it took, if I had something I wanted to talk about he was glad to converse, and every step of the way, the compassion he carried for his students showed through. Rather than being just another class for the semester, German class became a tight-knit community, a community so rarely found, in which everyone was willing to help and achieve great things as a community. Long after the sessions end time, Ewart would stay to chat with his students, connect, and get to know each of us on a personal level. I learned a great deal from him - not only about the German language and culture but about a variety of topics; math, life lessons, leadership, communication, music, history, and building community. At the end of a class, as we were all once again engaged in a deep, contemplative conversation, he told us one of his life mottos that I will never forget; "Try to live life as if there is nothing beyond this life (on earth), and then if there is an afterlife, it will just be a continuation/rebirth of a great life." From the beginning of my high school career to writing me a fabulous letter of recommendation for college and supporting me in a multitude of scholarship opportunities, he is still a deep influence in my academic journey and a caring role model to me and my peers. As a man with many passions, he followed various pursuits to live life to the fullest and inspired me to do the same. Like him, I have many life goals and passions, and thanks to the inspiration he provided - I will live life to the fullest and not sacrifice one passion for another. Mr. Ewart did something that so many teachers long too; he built a strong community of students who truly followed his lead and helped out one another, inspired a class full of high school students to do their best, and sparked a legacy of giving, support, and learning for the students whose lives he impacted.

"I want to save the world", 7-year-old me would reply with confidence in response to the inevitable question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" In my short seven years, I had become aware of a multitude of problems I wanted to be a part of addressing, a multitude of problems in which solutions existed, and yet they were not implemented. Why wouldn't helping those in need be a priority? Why wouldn't solving the problems of society and our impact on the world be a priority? After all, it is our future at stake, our future as a society, our future as a species, and the survival of the world as we know it. Ever since I can remember, and in the stories of my early years much beyond my span of memory, I have wanted to make a difference, I have stood up for others and fought for my beliefs with confidence, and I have no intention of stopping. I have chosen to pursue a degree in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University with the goal of declaring the remaining biodiversity hotspots as protected, conserving endangered species, restoring fragmented habitats, advocating for sustainable legislation, raising awareness, educating individuals in the regions I work, and helping find and implement solutions to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. These career goals focus on preserving the natural environment and ensuring a sustainable and humane future for nature in general - after all, we must have a future to make a difference in. What are you to paint the future on, if there is no future to act as the canvas we will paint with our actions today? Beyond my work to create a sustainable, humane, and safe future for coming generations, I will also continue to expand the impact I have outside of work - Through personal endeavors, volunteer work, and service I plan to extend my impact in the lives of both animals and people during college and beyond. As someone who has a financially stable living situation, a roof over my head, a strong education, and the mental and physical health resources I need, I will do everything I can to extend these luxuries to others. There are a multitude of chances and opportunities to make a difference and yet many people do not realize their potential to help others. It is my goal in life to not only realize my potential strengths and abilities that I can use to benefit people and animals but to utilize such skills to make a lasting difference. Every day, life carries with it the possibility to make an impact, be it for an individual or on a larger scale. I have witnessed the immense impact that one small act of service can have. Something as small as taking the time to talk to someone who is struggling, offering your support to someone in need, or advocating for someone who is being treated unfairly or in a difficult situation can make a world of difference for that one individual, and who knows what that one individual could end up doing with their life? We all must recognize our responsibilities as citizens of a 21st-century society, we must fight for our rights, support others, protect our future (from protecting the planet to preserving our democracy) and do our part to make this a humane, sustainable, and safe world for future generations. One of the best ways we can leave a lasting legacy in this world is to help others reach their potential and be the leaders that society needs today.

Since my early childhood, I have recognized my passion for making a positive difference in the world; for the environment, animals, and people. As someone who cherishes free time, personal obligations, service, and following your dreams, finding a satisfying and fulfilling life career is a front-and-center goal. It wasn't until high school that I found the career that combined so many of my passions; helping animals and the environment, making a difference, traveling, fulfillment, service, and photography. That career is Wildlife Biology. As a Wildlife Biologist, I will travel to biodiversity hotspots (which just happen to be some of the most unique and stunning ecosystems globally), work on conservation efforts for animals, advocate for environmental policy and legislation, make a difference in creating a humane and sustainable future, and have an outlet for my wildlife photography, bringing the exotic worlds I visit home to the mainstream population. In order to live a fulfilled and happy life, I have several traits I will search for in my ideal employment position after college; - Scheduling Flexibility - Ability to travel - Direct interaction in the field - Strong emphasis on vast animal conservation efforts - Ability to really make a difference I have researched many career opportunities for Wildlife Biologists/Conservationists, and I feel that finding employment with a non-profit or a private organization focused on the conservation of ecosystems globally will give me the best bet to have a viable and fulfilling career that allows me to meet my goals and follow my passions while still allowing me freedom and an ability to fit in other priorities as well. In my opinion, there is nothing more fulfilling than looking back on your life to realize the impact you have made, to realize that you have made a difference and played an integral role in carving a safe, humane, and sustainable future for the coming generations. When I look back on my life, I want to feel that I have made an impact, reached my goals, done what I wanted to do, and led a truly happy and fulfilled life. I want to lead a life that I will enjoy living up to my last breath, a life I can be proud of, and a legacy that I will pass on to my children and through the lives of others who I have impacted and influenced. As OneRepublic's song "I Lived" says; "When my moment comes, I'll say; I did it all - I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did, with every broken bone, I swear I lived."

Books are a window into a new world - whether that entails a typical story from a different perspective, reflections on daily life, or even a sci-fi or dystopian work laden with hidden truths and warnings - books are critical to the knowledge and intellect of all of us. Rather than wishing that everyone in the world would read one book of my choice, my wish is that everyone in the world would just read a book. The world of literature is just waiting to be discovered, many people have already grasped the wonder of reading and many others have rejected it. There are plentiful suggestions one could make, but those suggestions would only apply to those people that are most like them or share a similar interest. Ideally, I would have everyone read two books and make their own conclusion. Select one from a genre they are interested in; be it romance, mystery, suspense, comedy, sci-fi, or whatever genre makes them tick, and one book that focuses on a historical event or opposing view to their own. Reading about historical events, personal perspectives, and memoirs can open your eyes to so many diverse points of view you have yet to explore. Books don't argue, judge, or tattle. With books, you can be totally yourself, explore new depths and perceptions, and make your own conclusions as to what is shared. I don't want the world to read just one book, I want everyone in the world to search for a book, read it, draw their own conclusions, and embrace the world of reading whole-heartedly, venture outside their genre comfort zone, and explore new depths - you may just discover your new passion!

We derive almost all of our energy and ability to function from the food that we eat, so it is no wonder that food has a deep effect on us, both physically and mentally. Practicing healthy eating habits is very important and carries with it many benefits - from increased longevity, better health overall, better mental health, and (in many ways) even helping the environment. Developing healthy eating habits and gathering some go-to healthy alternatives to unhealthy foods is a great way to improve your life all across the board. It's a win-win-win. I have personally noticed a drastic difference in my mental and physical health when I eat healthier. When I have meals with red or processed meats, high in carbohydrates, and low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, I generally feel more sluggish and bloated, the effects of which seem to last at least a day. When I eat healthier, balanced, or vegetarian meals, however, I have noticed many different benefits from it, including; Feeling more energetic, more productive, happier and healthier, maintaining weight, feeling satisfied rather than full or bloated, and overall better and ready to start the day. The drastic effects of eating healthy are proof enough of its strong benefits. Many people struggle to find alternatives to the unhealthy food they love - myself included - and that is a big reason that they may find themselves unable to maintain a good, well-balanced diet as easily. I am currently in the process of trying to reach a healthier weight and develop good, healthy, eating habits. In the process of trying to find alternatives, I would suggest to others that they look up healthy recipes (especially for snacks and desserts - some of the generally more unhealthy times of consumption) and try them out. As well as, don't cut out your favorite unhealthy food completely - at least not immediately - limiting your portions and finding alternatives helps a lot, and finally make your own food - heavily processed or "fast food" meals are popular for their "convenience", but that is no reason to sacrifice your health and well-being. Invest in something like an air fryer so you can indulge in your favorite snacks on occasion, knowing what went into making them. Healthy eating is extremely important, and in an ever-changing world packed full of pollutants, paying attention to what you eat becomes even more important! Everyone should analyze their current diet, and make a change, it may well be a choice between life or death in the future.

There has been such a plethora of individuals in my life and in the media who could be considered role models, and choosing my "biggest" role model is near impossible. I have been lucky enough to gain inspiration and guidance from a variety of sources and with those inspiring traits and actions, I have pieced together my ideal "role model", the kind of person I want to be, and the life I want to lead. My parents - first and foremost - have been the source of the majority of inspiration and guidance I have received over the years, a constant support system despite the many challenges in life - and that alone is an inspiration. They have not only raised two children with the perfect combo of support, encouragement, and expectations but have been dependable and responsible individuals in all of their interactions, and own/operate their own quite successful business. I hope to follow in their footsteps as an entrepreneur, eventual parent, and respected individual. They have led a life following their dreams and passions, a life full of adventure and fulfillment, and they are the ones I think of every day for inspiration. When it comes to my future career field (Wildlife Biology), many inspiring individuals come to mind. Iconic women such as Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey have brought the field of wildlife biology and conservation to where it is today, sacrificing the modern luxuries of life for the "good of all", fighting for what they knew was right, and shedding light on the magnificent happenings they experienced in their time in the wild - opening minds of the general public through their first-hand accounts and films, to the stunning and complex world in need of protection. Steve Irwin is another source of inspiration, he not only made a substantial impact in the field of wildlife conservation and raised awareness about many iconic (and not so well-known) species, but he fulfilled his thirst for adventure with his travels and eccentric animal interactions, all alongside his (also very inspiring) wife Terri and their two children Bindi and Robert - bringing the next generation into the field. His children still continue his legacy to this day, making a difference. I have pieced together the most inspiring traits of the people who have made an impact on me to devise my own idea of a role model. In my lifetime, I hope to be a successful, dependable, and family-oriented person, who creates a legacy of positive change and leaves behind a humane and sustainable world and way of living, continued on by my children. Along with my family, I will lead a fulfilled and adventurous life.

"If God has a language, it would be Math", those are the words my Dad uses to explain the complex logical and interconnected equations that are math. A map of completely logical equations just waiting for us to discover them and their applications in life. In a world where it seems everything is created to deceive, the logical connections found in math are refreshing! Math is not what I would describe as my strong suit in school, but the real-world applications in topics such as Geometry and Statistics intrigued me into exploring math more in-depth. Science may be the answer to our problems, but what is Science without Math? I am an incoming Freshman this fall at Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major. My career goals are extensive and they all consist of math in one way or another. The goal of preserving Biodiversity hotspots will require me to create mathematical population models to analyze certain species populations in a region, to determine their protection needs, and discover whether the protections that I enact are working in the region. Growth or decline rates for species will lead my work by helping determine what level of protection is necessary for a species and measure population changes. Statistics will be my guiding principle for what is known to have worked, what may work and to measure my success. As I embark on my extensive college journey, math will become an even more front-and-center topic, guiding me to success not only in my studies but also in finances, maintaining grades, and balancing my schedule. Math is not only God's language, but the language that allows information to be shared with the public, in a way that makes sense and can build compassion and caring in the public eye for the habitats I will fight to protect (mostly in exotic regions), many of which have never been seen by those in countries like the US. Presenting people with statistics on what works, what needs to be done, and the proven ways they can help is a great way to involve individuals globally. Science, and its close twin Math, are the answers to our problems. Together, with the knowledge of these topics, change can be enacted and our world can be brought to a sustainable future in which future generations can thrive. Is it a coincidence that Math ("God's language") is the answer to Earth's struggles?

The hint to sustainability lies within natural creations and science - when you think about it, most of what occurs in nature, occurs in a circular fashion. Natural resources such as water go through a cycle, the water is never eliminated or removed from the system, rather it just processes through an endless revolution. Life itself is a circular pattern of birth, life, reproduction, death, and new birth. With so many circular patterns existing in a world that has lasted millions of years, it may be the very clue we need to embrace in order to create a sustainable existence for humankind, that can thrive along with the environment. In yet another linked-circle phenomenon, all life on earth is connected to one another through some sort of link, whatever occurs that may have a negative effect, will make its way through the links - eventually affecting all of the life systems to some degree. Plastics have already made their way into our food and water supplies, causing the potential for deadly health effects. The health of our environment is directly linked to the health of the thousands of vibrant ecosystems that exist on Earth and the biodiversity of life, all of which are directly related to our own species' existence on Earth. Human society must embrace a circular way of living, a net zero-waste way of production, use, and recycling that eliminates pollution (such as single-use plastics) and revolves like the natural cycles. Imagine, if the plastics that existed today, were placed into a circular, net-zero pollution, cycle, in which they were constantly reused and never disregarded as waste. This way of living and production must be applied to not only plastics but other sources of pollution as well. Nature's way is best, and we must follow in its path if we hope to create a sustainable future - or a future at all in fact - for future generations. The advice I give my friends and family regarding reducing their carbon footprint is; to contribute to the circular economy already in place - recycle, reuse (anything that can be reused/repurposed rather than trashing it), repair (make repairs to restore items, and get extended use), buy sustainable options (such as reusable water bottle deliveries/trade in's instead of single-use gallons), and buy used (pick second hand or refurbished items instead of buying new ones). These are just a few ways that we can do our part to support the circular economy that is in practice right now! As I prepare to head off to college, I am looking forward to being an agent of change in sustainable and humane living. I will be pursuing my degree in Wildlife Biology (as well as double minoring in Ecological Restoration and Zoology), this education will equip me with the knowledge I need to protect the remaining ecosystems, restore damaged habitats and endangered animal species, advocate for legislation to promote a circular economy, and raise awareness and encourage others to embrace a circular economy. I implore everyone who hopes for a future in the world as we know it, to support the circular economy and make a difference.

A "health journey" can take so many forms depending on the individual needs. But, whether it be a mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual health journey, the completion of such goals can bring with them immense benefits. For me, my journey involves multiple aspects of health. Like many - prior to the long years of confinement in the pandemic - I had a fairly consistent schedule, was maintaining a healthy weight, and was working on making small improvements here and there. However, when the pandemic struck, I took the popular approach of waiting it out, assuming it wouldn't last long. After many years of living in isolation and confinement during COVID, I had gained weight, and my more regular fitness schedule (most of which took place outside the home) had gradually ceased. My health journey now consists of regaining the physical and mental mindset I had pre-pandemic, and improving beyond that. Doing this is no easy feat, as is the case with many health journeys, but I am determined to reach a healthy state and maintain it, in order to reap the many benefits of a healthy lifestyle. My journey includes; an improved diet (less sugar/salt and more vegetarian learning meals), exercise on a regular basis (I work out for an hour 2-3 times a week), and Yoga/meditation (twice a week). Most health journeys are made up of such measured routines of regular changes, however, I also utilize certain techniques to avoid mental health issues (chronic stress is a good example, especially when it comes to college students). George Burns once said that there are two kinds of problems "one you can do something about and one that you can't. The one you can do something about, Do it! The one that you can't, there is no use stressing out about, because you can't do anything about it." Stressing out over every little thing is easy to do, and many people fall into an endless trap of stress. However, I try to think back to this quote when analyzing the things I'm stressed about, and act (or not) accordingly. I have already noticed a significant improvement by employing this technique for stress. It is incredibly important for all people - especially college students - to ensure that they maintain their mental health. I encourage others to do what I have done; Learn your personal strengths and what helps you out in times of stress and then devise a plan for what you will do in college to decrease your stress level and maintain your mental strength. For me, getting involved on campus, keeping a journal, writing out lists/keeping organized, spending time with family, and friends, doing what I love, and keeping up with a fitness and health routine, will help me be the best student I can be throughout my time in college. Everyone's health journey looks different, but it is well worth it to take the time to devise a plan to maintain your health, whatever that may mean for you, and make the change now. It can, quite literally, be a matter of life or death.

My journey as a volunteer began in the summer of 2022. As the pandemic that had barred me from getting involved in the earlier years of high school finally led up, I began searching for opportunities to get involved, gain experience in the field I will be pursuing in college (Wildlife Biology), and make a difference. Through my search, I discovered three organizations that I quickly signed up for and began volunteering with, the first is a farm animal sanctuary that saves animals from neglect/abuse situations (I currently volunteer to assist with animal care tasks, one-on-one enrichment through positive reinforcement training and larger projects that enhance the lives of the residents such as expansions and gardening), the second is a scientific "citizen scientist" organization known as the Colorado Pika Project, which uses data collected in the field on pika populations and their habitat across the Rocky Mountains to analyze the impact of climate change and work on future conservation applications, and finally a habitat restoration group that hosts volunteer projects such as tree planting, seed collections, and habitat construction, among other things. Volunteering has now grown into an almost addictive passion of mine. The ability to give some of your time to make a measurable impact, connect with like-minded individuals, and gain experience in areas of interest makes volunteering a very important part of my life, and one I highly recommend that all others pursue as well. While I plan to continue to volunteer with the organizations I am currently a part of, I don't plan to stop with these organizations. Through my research, I have discovered countless organizations I would love to support, but I plan to volunteer in a few capacities in particular. During college, I will begin volunteering with a local Wildlife Rehabilitation center (helping animals recover enough to return to their natural environment), an animal rescue (training and fostering the animals), and - after college - I plan to volunteer as a transport driver, taking animals from high-kill, low-interest situations to rescues where they will have a better chance at finding a home as well as starting my own non-profit organization - providing free services to community cat caretakers, assisting with TNR and managing colonies across Colorado with the goal of humanely reducing if not eliminating the cat overpopulation crisis in the U.S and supporting cat owners. My passion and career goals in Wildlife Biology revolve around making this world a more humane and sustainable place, for all creatures that call this earth home. Those goals will involve extensive communication and interaction with communities globally, including within the limits of the U.S. I will work to find humane and sustainable alternatives, pass legislation, and advocate for a future in which animals, people, and nature are all supported. Through my current and future volunteer endeavors, I have already been able to make a difference in the lives of people and animals, and am confident that I will be able to continue making an impact. Volunteering is a substantial way to give back to the community and support causes you are passionate about, there is truly an opportunity to make a difference out there for every individual, and I encourage everyone to get involved in the community through the very satisfying path of volunteer work.

I envision my future self as a passionate individual who works hard to reach my goals, overcoming any obstacles that stand in my path along the way, someone who has truly made a difference in the world and leaves a lasting legacy of humane and sustainable living, having positively impacted the lives of many animals and people.

I have always been passionate about science. From a young age, I gravitated toward science classes - especially life science and Biology. While I had a passion for science, my love of animals and nature was undying and I was determined to find a way to combine my passions for working with animals and science. My first thought was Veterinarian Science, but my longing to make a more impactful difference in the world pushed me towards a field that would leave a more lasting impression on the world. Finally, the summer before starting high school - as I was once again at my computer conducting research on my future life prospects - I came across the perfect career, Wildlife Biology. A career that would allow me to make an impact while combining my many life passions. In recent years, I have created an extensive list of career goals I hope to achieve - alongside like-minded colleagues - with my overall goal being to help push society to a more sustainable and humane future. My current career goals include; - Designing/passing legislative action regarding climate action and wildlife welfare/protection laws - Declaring the remaining biodiversity hotspots as protected - Taking on mass preservation/reforestation projects to restore key habitats globally (and store carbon) - Conserving endangered animal species and restoring declining populations - Raising awareness and providing education on a variety of issues related to the field (animal/human conflict mitigation, personal choices to help the environment, the issues wildlife and the climate face, etc.) As a Wildlife Biologist, I will take into account a variety of individual factors (human dependence on natural "resources", animal/biodiversity dependence on habitat, environmental need for habitat/land conservation, etc.) to help create viable solutions for animals, people, and the environment. Solutions that are meant to work, and to create a mutualistic, humane, and sustainable world. I want to devise solutions that will support the human community in the region, in harmony with nature and animals in an eventually mutualistic way of living. This fall, I will be attending Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major (and plan to minor in Zoology and Ecological Restoration) to gain the education that reaching my goals will require. Part of the reason I selected CSU from the many prestigious universities offering the forward-thinking major, is the vast opportunities for networking, engagement, community involvement, and field experience they provide. Winning this scholarship would be a great help to me, allowing me to kickstart my career - through networking, field experience, and getting involved on campus - by relieving the financial burden of higher education and freeing up time for me to seize the multitude of opportunities available to me at CSU. Thank you for your consideration!

My parents are very financially conscious and have instilled in me many great pieces of financial advice throughout my lifetime. In a monetary-focused society such as ours, money is a scorecard of your successes in personal choices and career success, and money can bring you vast freedom. While everyone's definition of "freedom" varies, most people can agree that money is a great passage to freedom and can open endless doors for further opportunities - such as higher education. As an incoming college Freshman this fall, maintaining finances is a key focus in my life. It is near impossible to select the best piece of financial advice I have received in my lifetime, but here are a few of the best. 1. The bucket rule: As a little girl intrigued by finances, I operated a stand from our driveway selling refreshments and handmade jewelry pieces. I was always interested in making and saving money and loved talking about finances with my parents - business owners - and they told me about the bucket rule. They said, "Make sure that you always make more money than you spend. Every month be sure that your income covers all of your expenses plus some extra to put in savings. Build up the savings so that you have six months to a year of living expenses set aside, and after that, start putting the extra money into four buckets. One for investing, one for helping others, one for saving for future goals like a house down payment, that new furniture you wanted, etc., and one for fun, like the spontaneous family vacation you've been planning." That advice, while simple enough, is - like most financial advice - easier said than done. I always keep this bucket rule in mind, while the majority of my money at this point in life goes into savings and expenses, there are many causes that I am passionate about and would love to support in the future. By the time I graduate college, (ideally debt-free or with minimal loans) I hope to create a diverse investment portfolio with the extra money I set aside to invest and be able to help organizations I am passionate about financially, through donations. As I go through college and beyond, I will be sure that I have a sufficient income, strive to live below my means, and save money in the four buckets whenever possible. 2. Use credit cards in a way that allows you to earn money (rather than fall into debt): Credit cards are the often warned of evil in finances, the make-it-or-break-it tool that, when abused, holds the ability to sink one into debt. While many people warn against credit card use, there is another side to credit cards that my parents have exposed me to as well. Many cards come with rewards points and/or cashback deals and build your credit if you pay the cards off each month. With credit cards, the best thing to do, according to my parent's advice, is to "shop around". Pick cards with good reward/point options, a good APR, and no annual fees. During college, I plan to accept the credit card offers that meet the criteria my parents have suggested to me, use these cards for my purchases (only for the amount that I know I have in the bank), and then pay off the cards at the end of the month/term. Using credit cards responsibly can actually make you money rather than force you to spiral into debt, a financial prospect that should not be ignored for its potentially negative consequences, if abused. 3. Don't sell yourself short, know your worth: My parents own and operate their own successful business from home, providing them with more schedule freedom and an ability to set their own rates, accept/decline work, etc. I plan to start my own positive reinforcement animal training business while in College as well. One of the best pieces of financial business advice my parents have given me is to "know your worth and not sell yourself short". So many small businesses enter the competitive market with too low of prices only to fail to support their business and fall under. According to Entrepreneuship.com, "By the end of the fifth year, about half (of small businesses) will have failed, by the end of a decade, about 70% will have failed." One of the leading causes they state is "running out of money". I have gained a fair deal of experience and am currently volunteering in multiple capacities training animals, to gain experience for my future business. By the time I start up the business, I will know my abilities in the market of animal training and be able to price and accept/decline my work accordingly. I am on a financial mission to achieve a debt-free college graduation through scholarships and to have a beyond-sufficient income after college to support my goals in life. And, equipped with the many pieces of valuable financial information I've received over the years, I am confident that I will be able to reach my financial goals.

Like many people worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of my physical (and mental) fitness routine. In 2020 I was attending Parkour classes at a local gym and doing simple physical activities that I'd previously taken for granted, like grocery runs, walks around downtown, and going to events that required walking. All of these little things added up to my physical well-being and, when the pandemic brought these activities to a halt, my lifestyle became more sedentary. I waited for things to return back to normal, but that threshold was slow to come. With an ever-increasing schedule of work as a High School student and an inability to get out of the house, I slowly slipped out of shape and gained weight. In terms of mental health, I was less impacted than many individuals, having already been attending an Online school and my parents already working from home. But, simple things like an inability to attend traditional holiday events, go out to eat or out to the movies, celebrate or go to public places like zoos or museums, or spend time at the Rec center all took their toll mentally as I again participated in more sedentary "activities" in the confines of home. Now that COVID-19 is less impactful on day-to-day living, I have devised a plan to get myself back into a more physically active routine. I've created a goal to establish a more balanced and healthy diet, get back to a healthy weight, and start working on a mental health routine to practice in college including fitting in time to read, learn to play instruments, meditate and do yoga. I now utilize more productivity and organization techniques to ensure I leave time for my mental and physical well-being, do cardio and strength training twice a week, volunteer in multiple physical capacities on a regular basis, and practice mindfulness and zen tactics to cope with the mental demands of college. It is critical throughout life and especially in times of stress to ensure you keep a schedule that allows for self-care and provides you with physical and mental health outlets. Putting time towards your personal wellness greatly improves success as a student, employee, volunteer, and family member/friend. It always surprises me how much more productive I am when I perform a simple stretch/yoga routine or do a quick workout before starting my day's work. Taking care of yourself ensures you can put your best work forward in everything you do and makes you a more successful and happy individual overall. I have experienced the benefits firsthand and strive to incorporate personal wellness in all aspects of my life.

I am an incoming Freshman at Colorado State University this fall as a Wildlife Biology Major. What some would call an "overachiever", always trying my best and going the extra mile. I have worked hard to get where I am in life, and have been surrounded by supportive and successful people, many of which are women, throughout my life. I've long been intrigued by the topics of science - especially evolution, biodiversity, and biology in general. Throughout my life, I have witnessed acreages of open public lands, home to an abundance of wildlife and natural ecosystems fall into an endless sea of development - buildings, warehouses, and housing and I have observed once abundant species of birds and insects disappear from day-to-day life and become a rare occurrence. As long as I can remember, I earned nicknames like "nature girl" and "bug girl" for my constant observance and love for all of nature and the creatures that surround us, and I did what I could to help. My family and I planted a habitat of Milkweed in our front yard and a garden of flowers for bees and pollinators. We hung bird feeders full of seed and hummingbird nectar and created habitats of rocks and leaves in corners of our property to serve as habitats for snakes, toads, and lizards. I kept thinking of ways to help preserve nature and its species and create a humane and sustainable future to ensure that this Earth could support us for a long time to come. Just before Highschool, I decided to enter a STEAM field, Wildlife Biology. Wildlife Biology would equip me with the knowledge and the authority to be one of the many passionate scientists who lead this world to a humane and sustainable future, a circular, zero-pollution economy in which humans, nature, and animals exist in harmony. As always, the answer to the climate crisis, the looming sixth mass extinction, and the seemingly never-ending human-animal conflicts is - Science. We need innovators to bring us new technology that is truly futuristic, that focuses on the "big picture". Electric cars (charged with power from polluting energy plants and with batteries produced in factories laden with chemicals) are not the answer to the transportation crisis. We need to look beyond that and discover, utilize, and push innovative transportation, such as Hydrogen-powered cars and public transport, into mainstream society and faze out gas and electric-powered vehicles. We are at a critical point in history, one in which we need innovators who see the big picture and innovate lasting solutions for the big picture (for transportation, packaging, energy etc.). We need policymakers who can look at the data, see the big picture and make the jump to transition the innovations to mainstream use and gradually (but promptly) faze out harmful technologies like gas and electric transportation, fossil fuels, plastics, etc. Scientists - In the form of innovators and biologists in the field; preserving biodiversity hotspots, restoring endangered animal species, reforesting key habitats fragmented by human activities, educating the masses, and mitigating human/animal conflict - are the answer we need. Wildlife biologists often work in close contact with local communities who live alongside the nature/animals we are fighting to protect, too often subjected to destruction for money. I will work to find harmonic solutions that support nature, animals, and the community as a whole, and studies have shown that one of the best ways to do this, is through women and children, helping them support themselves and their families with alternative methods of income through education and resources.

"If God has a language, it would be Math", those are the words my Dad uses to explain the complex logical and interconnected equations that are math. A map of completely logical equations just waiting for us to discover them and their applications in life. In a world where it seems everything is created to deceive, the logical connections found in math are refreshing! Math is not what I would describe as my strong suit in school, but the real-world applications in topics such as Geometry and Statistics intrigued me into exploring math more in-depth. Science may be the answer to our problems, but what is Science without Math? I am an incoming Freshman this fall at Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major. My career goals are extensive and they all consist of math in one way or another. The goal of preserving Biodiversity hotspots will require me to create mathematical population models to analyze certain species populations in a region to determine their protection needs and discover whether the protections that I enact are working in the region. Growth or decline rates for species will lead my work by helping determine what level of protection is necessary for a species and measure population changes. Statistics will be my guiding principle for what is known to have worked, what may work and to measure my success. Math is not only God's language, but the language that allows information to be shared with the public in a way that makes sense and can build compassion and caring in the public eye for the habitats I will fight to protect, many of which have never been seen by those in other countries like the US. Presenting people with statistics on what works, what needs to be done, and the proven ways they can help is a great way to involve individuals globally. Science, and its close twin Math, are the answers to our problems. Together, with the knowledge of these topics, change can be enacted and our world can be brought to a sustainable future in which future generations can thrive. Is it a coincidence that Math ("God's language") is the answer to Earth's struggles?

I have many extensive future goals I plan on pursuing throughout my life and, while difficult, I am determined to make a difference and see my goals through. My passions make the hard work all worth it! My life has been full of animals of all sorts, from domestic pets to wildlife. In fact, I've yet to spend a single day in my life without a pet in the family (and I intend to continue that trend throughout my lifetime). Currently, I own a rescue dog and several cats who we've taken in off of the streets. As a volunteer, I manage multiple cat colonies throughout my neighborhood (providing feeding stations and assisting in Trap-Neuter-Return of the community cats, benefiting both the community and the cats) and volunteer at a farm animal sanctuary providing one-on-one enrichment through training and helping with daily care tasks. During the summers I also volunteer to collect data on Pikas in the Rocky Mountains for future conservation use and build/restore habitat for wildlife across Colorado. Through my volunteer work caring for community cats, I have become inspired to pursue the dream of starting my own non-profit to help cats. An organization that can provide free resources to cat colony caretakers and cat owners across Colorado and beyond (like free food deliveries) and help TNR the colony cats, therefore, removing some of the financial strain of caring for cats in the community. During college, I plan to start my own positive reinforcement animal training business to cater to pet owners by enhancing the human-animal bond, addressing behavioral issues, and working with owners to find training/management alternatives to surrendering their pet. After or during my time in college, I plan to earn multiple animal training certifications from other organizations as well. This fall I am pursuing a degree in Wildlife Biology (with an eventual double minor in Ecological Restoration and Zoology) from Colorado State University. With the degree, I will work to declare the remaining biodiversity hotspots as protected, undertake reforesting projects for key habitats, help conserve endangered animal species, design and advocate for animal/wildlife welfare and protection laws as well as climate action policies and raise awareness/educate citizens of the US and beyond about the variety of issues animals face and work to mitigate human/animal conflicts. In my personal life, I also plan to focus on helping animals of all types. I have never been able to turn down an animal in need and hope to create a strong legacy of helping animals of all types and achieving a better, more humane, and stable world for future generations, of people and animals. Volunteering has been a greatly beneficial outlet for me to participate in areas I want to make a difference, without having to create my own new organization. In the following years, I plan to volunteer as a transport driver (picking up animals from kill shelters/high-volume shelters and bringing them to no-kill/higher demand shelters), animal shelters (training animals to help with problem behaviors and increase their chances of adoption), Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (rehabilitating wild animals over the summer through hands-on care), and fostering/adopting animals in need (especially more critical need animals). Over the years, countless animals have positively impacted my life, they have brought me endless happiness, inspiration, love, and support. From my first puppy Schatze, to Spiffy, and Moony the first cats who began my colony, to Twilight the first kitten I ever tamed, and countless others - well exceeding the remaining word limit. I will develop my legacy as one of helping countless animals, and touching countless lives!

I have had a multitude of valuable experiences throughout my life and have developed many life passions, in the face of a challenge I am eager to push forward, make a positive change, and address the challenge. The status quo or societal norm has never been a boundary for me, just an inspiration to prove those people wrong. I have a strong sense of morals and have been described as honest, decisive, confident, self-driven, and resolute. From a young age, I set out on the mission to change a common misconception that "Cats can not be trained". At four years old, having seen many trained dogs and owners struggling with their pets, I set out with a bag of cat treats to train my first cat, Sabratsa. My parents warned me, in hopes of curbing any disappointment, that it was likely she could not be trained. Soon, I returned and called my parents outside, much to their surprise she performed a variety of tricks with my simple luring and gestures. The technique of "luring" was the most basic way to teach a cat for a four-year-old, but with the addition of my next cats around 8-9 years old I identified the tactic of positive reinforcement clicker training through extensive research. I have now decided to start my own animal training business while in college and beyond. Faced with a challenging misconception about the trainability of cats, I trained dozens of cats, got the idea for my business, and am currently training my cats to beat multiple world records. Realizing an overabundant cat population in my neighborhood and surrounding areas and experiencing firsthand, as a cat owner, the circumstances these cats lived in, I worked together with my family and local organizations to spay/neuter the feral/stray cats to humanely stabilize their population and allow them to remain in the community and provide their pest control services to the community - a solution that is becoming more widespread. From this cat colony management and the observation of the immensely positive impact it created, the dream of creating my own non-profit cat organization in the (hopefully not so distant) future was born, the organizations would provide free trap/neuter/return services, free food and supply deliveries and a resource net for cat colony caregivers as well as manage colonies that were currently uncared for. Upon witnessing numerous events that signaled an issue for our environment and the diverse species and ecosystems that thrive here; vast open spaces teeming with diverse wildlife consumed into a sea of civilization, buildings, and polluting factories, once abundant wildlife declining, to an occasional surprise viewing, as a result of human activity, and exotic animals hunted, killed and pushed from their homes by humans to the point of hovering near extinction. These devastating events inspired me to pursue higher education as a Wildlife Biologist (with a double minor in Zoology and Ecological Restoration) and fight for change, dedicating my career to declaring these key lands and open spaces as protected, conserving endangered animals, reforesting key habitats, and advocating for global legislative action to protect our environment and preserve our lands and animals. Throughout my life, when I have witnessed a specific event or issue in the community or larger area I have been inspired to find a solution, make a change, and strive for a better future and I will continue to fight for the causes I am passionate about and give back to my community through my future career and life endeavors.

Glistening blue waves crash against the shore onto the beach, the soft, clean, open expanse of sand welcoming visitors. Of course, this is what people generally imagine when they think of our oceans and the beaches that surround them. But tourism and pollution from people all over the world have long ago corrupted the perfect image of the oceans. Now, blue waves of plastic wash up against the shores, and straws, and bags float around resembling food, eventually eaten by marine life. The bodies of the animals that made that same mistake before them litter the beaches with stomachs full of plastics and other polluting waste from humans. Our constant pollution propels global warming, bleaches the magnificent coral reefs, home to some of the most diverse ecosystems in the oceans, and makes some habitats uninhabitable, but we continue on. The ocean itself, if it were only protected, can store loads of carbon from the atmosphere. The world is built to survive independently, with the deeply connected life systems all tied together to sustain life on this planet. But, people have thrown these connections off balance. The oceans and their vast ecosystems have a strong impact on the rest of the world, the oceans provide abundant food to people around the world, and connect various lands, the ocean is a strong component in the survivability of this earth, and yet, humankind has failed to grant it the respect and protection it deserves. The majority of the ocean depths still lie undiscovered, and at this rate, we will never know what secrets, information, and history those depths may hold. This fall I will be majoring in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University, while Wildlife Biologists focus primarily on terrestrial ecosystems, the impact of their work does not stop there, the legislation for example that Wildlife Biologists like myself hope to pass to push America and the world to a sustainable future of renewable, safe, and self-sustained living would reduce human pollution, greatly benefiting both the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Both Wildlife and Marine Biology are interconnected, and networking, a critical part of both careers, brings individuals from both specialties together in unison, to work together to solve the issues we face as a global society of living organisms. The deeply interconnected life systems on earth and their components that keep our world thriving as we know it are integral. I will network with Wildlife and Marine Biologists to make positive change, I will fight for the elimination of single-use plastics, and polluting human practices and advocate for the protection of biodiversity hotspots or "Hope spots" as Sylvia Earle calls them, the preservation of these regions is key to longevity in both Marine and Wildlife Biology careers.

My day starts similar to many, I wake up, get ready for the morning, have breakfast, and start completing my daily tasks, many people follow a very similar routine each morning without stopping to consider the impact that every small choice has on the environment. Maybe you start your day with a long hot shower (with water heated through electricity from fossil fuel plants), put some shampoo/conditioner (full of ingredients harmful to the environment - like parabens and microplastics) in your hair, and throw together some breakfast from single-use plastic and styrofoam containers before heading off to work, school or wherever you need to be that day in your gas-powered vehicle. You drive by endless signs of civilization having replaced the natural open spaces and watch as open spaces and views of the natural world dissolve into a sea of construction and buildings. These habits extend throughout the day, even grabbing a single-use utensil for lunch and a cup of coffee in a styrofoam cup for your commute is harmful to the environment. Making some extremely simple changes in our day-to-day lives can do a lot to better the environment, this is not to say we have to stop engaging in the habits or behaviors we do every day, we just need to be conscious and reduce or eliminate the impact of such actions. As someone who has always strived for ways to protect and help our struggling environment and its everchanging climate, the realization that just a few decisions when you wake up in the morning can make an immense difference, was and will always continue to be important to me. As a result, I've made it a point to focus my attention on the impact I have on the environment as I make my daily choices. I have switched to zero-parabens, zero-additive products whenever possible, I turn off the water as I brush my teeth, take shorter showers, wash dishes by hand instead of using water and electricity for a partial load in the dishwasher, unplug/turn off appliances, limit single-use plastic use, and on a larger scale use reusable produce and grocery bags (or grow our own produce without the use of pesticides or any chemicals), and purchase 5-gallon water bottles that are recycled rather than single-use gallons. With the luxuries of electricity and abundant water, we often do not pay attention to how much we waste in our daily lives. Shutting a window when the temperatures drop, insulating your home, or throwing on a sweater has little impact on us and yet can save electricity and help our environment. Through my personal life, daily interactions with others, and my future career on the front lines working to protect the environment and the natural ecosystems on this wonderful planet, I will continue fighting for a more sustainable life for all individuals through awareness and legislative action and I implore others to make simple changes in their life and take responsibility for the impact they have.

Once more, I find myself reflecting on my progress and achievements and looking forward to the next chapter in life to come - college. This May, I will start a new chapter in life, requiring immense responsibility, involvement, and dedication. I will be majoring in Wildlife Biology with a double minor in Ecological Restoration and Zoology. But college for me is a crucial time, a time to kickstart your adult life and prepare for the life ahead. While academics are my main focus, I also plan to start my own positive reinforcement animal training business in college, potentially start a non-profit dedicated to helping cats and their owners, work for my parent's photography company, and continue with my many volunteer endeavors. Not to mention the clubs and other campus involvement I will become involved in, in the next four crucial years. There are a multitude of aspects to look forward to in college - endless networking opportunities, a highly ranked education, hundreds of involvement opportunities, and an amazing campus and surrounding atmosphere - Colorado State University has it all, but perhaps most importantly, what excites me most about college is making a difference through both my on-campus activities while attending CSU and on a much larger scale when I graduate with my degree in Wildlife Biology. With my degree, I will fight to declare the remaining biodiversity hotspots as protected, restore fragmented habitats, conserve endangered animal species, and work towards an overall humane, sustainable, and lasting world that we and all species can enjoy for many generations to come. I've always hoped to make a difference in the world, and now, through the path of Wildlife Biology, I can. And I will. Already, my schedule is inevitably packed, not just for college but for life after college. Amidst all of this, I will prioritize a healthy mind, body, and soul. In a way, my career choices and schedule already cater to my mind and soul - making an impact in the world as I've always dreamt, helping out in the community with my volunteer work and future non-profit(s), and choosing a career path and work endeavors that I am passionate about and enjoy are all important for both my mental and spiritual well-being. Happiness in your career and with your life is key to a fulfilled life spiritually and mentally. But, I will still need the occasional break from it all and have free time to relax and spend time with family and pets. The main tactic I will utilize is a schedule, I will schedule my day to maximize the work I can complete in certain assigned sections of the day and leave myself some open time for spontaneous activities, relaxation and free time. Rather than allowing working out, yoga, and meditating to fall into the uncertain category of "free time", I will set aside time in my schedule specifically for these activities. My schedule will be busy, I will have a lot of priorities, I will be making a difference in the world and reaching my goals. But in order to do any of this, I must prioritize my physical, mental, and spiritual health. By working things like exercise, yoga, and meditation into my day and planning so that I can still enjoy my free time, I will be able to lead a fulfilled and healthy life. It is time that we all make time in our schedule for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, and stop focusing on our well-being only "when we have the time".

"I want to save the world." Those words were my repeated response as a little girl when posed with the inevitable question "what do you want to do when you grow up?" Of course, at such a young age, I wasn't able to see how impossible that goal would be, especially for one little girl in a world of millions. As a native of Colorado, my childhood was spent surrounded by wildlife and a multitude of natural landscapes that so frequently became the canvas for my childhood adventures. As long as I can remember I had a passion for research and doing whatever I could to better this world - particularly for animals and the environment, and I was (and still am) determined to do whatever I could to have a positive impact on the environment and the animals that call our world home. Fast forward to my Freshmen year of High School, my passions and goals in life remained the same - I wanted to have a positive impact on the environment and animals - and finally, I had found the perfect career path to allow me to reach these goals - Wildlife Biology. With a Masters degree in Wildlife Biology, I would be able to work to declare the remaining biodiversity hotspots as protected, reforest key habitats, advocate for sustainable living and policy changes, raise awareness and educate others about the plight of animals and the environment. This Fall, I will be an incoming Freshmen at Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major (and will later double minor in Ecological Restoration and Zoology). My education here will set me up with the skill set I need to venture out on my long-term mission to better our world. While I have many long-term career goals and missions as a future Wildlife Biologist, I did not want to wait to start making a positive impact on the world through the lens of wildlife biology. I now volunteer with the Colorado Pika Project (hiking to "pika sites" across the Rocky Mountains, collecting data on the pika populations and habitat, and submitting this data for future applications in pika conservation in the face of climate change) as well as Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (participating in a variety of projects from tree planting to seed collections to restore key habitat for animals and beautify the Colorado open spaces for the enjoyment of the community). My vision is a future in which people, animals, and nature exist in a mutualistic relationship with one another, a sustainable and humane future for all of gods creatures. I am proud to be a part of the change, and I hope to see an increase in people taking up similar careers and following their passions. Let's fight for a better, more stable, humane, and sustainable future for the coming generations!

A future of electric cars and renewable wind and solar energy may be the vision that many have of a "renewable and sustainable future", but that is just a go-between, a future supplement to more effective and sustainable technologies. When I imagine a truly sustainable future, I imagine hydrogen-powered cars and public transportation systems. I imagine a world in which the materials we use are no longer damaging like plastic but sustainable. I imagine nuclear fusion energy prevailing, supplemented with solar and wind energy. Strict federal and state laws implemented in each of the countries in the world as well as incentives for innovation would likely be the most impactful way to combat climate change. Climate deniers and even people who believe in the climate crisis but prefer the "convenient" use of environmentally devastating products like single-use plastic and gas-powered cars would be drawn to make sustainable decisions by such incentives or regulations. While some states have made progress, vowing to ban single-use plastic bags in stores, and setting deadlines for climate action a decade or two in the future, unfortunately, this isn't good enough at this point. Even permafrost - gradually built over centuries and centuries - is now melting. The causes of this damage must be eliminated in a shorter timeline and action taken to restore the damage already done and prevent this from ever happening again. But what exactly do we need to do? The state and federal governments of countries worldwide need to think about the future and take action to sustain the world we call home for future generations. Bans on single-use plastics (bags, straws, single-use bottles, etc.) as well as other damaging packaging (like styrofoam containers and other non-biodegradable packaging), eventual bans of gas-powered transportation, and a transition to renewable energy sources (ideally nuclear fusion). These changes combined with personal trends would work together to combat climate change and begin the trend towards environmentally friendly living. That brings me to my second point, incentives for innovation to discover more efficient, environmentally friendly, low-waste options. We need to begin phasing out gas-powered cars, fossil fuels, plastic, etc. But, we need a viable alternative to turn to, for the long term. Many people point to the already available technology for electric cars and renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy. While these are a much better alternative to gas-powered cars and fossil fuels, the production of batteries, fuel cells, and parts for these alternatives make it so that they are a "transitional" resource, one we should turn towards until a better alternative comes along. So far, the best technology we have available is still being developed and tested, the government and/or other organizations need to offer an incentive to innovators to help create technology or improve technology for eventual mainstream use - specifically, Hydrogen-powered cars and nuclear fusion energy which both produce less waste than current options, of course, the current electric-cars and other renewable sources would be a valuable supplement as necessary. In my current life, I am gravitating towards products that are recyclable (5 gal water bottles that are exchanged rather than small single-use gallon jugs), Reusable grocery and produce bags, driving less by combining trips, and opting to switch to a vegetarian diet of locally grown produce. These changes in my life currently will help me gradually reduce my environmental impact. I will also advocate for the changes I mentioned above and undertake mass reforestation efforts in my future career as a Wildlife biologist - striving to make our world sustainable for future generations and the animals that call this earth home.

Community is all of the creatures that live together interconnected with one another - this description describes the vast creatures living together as a "community", not just the people, but also the animals in the community both wild and domestic. A community should help those in need, support one another, and make an effort to coexist peacefully together in their shared environment. Community service is the act of giving back meaningfully to your community, giving some of your time and resources in dedication to improving the community we share for the benefit of everyone, or assisting those in need within the community who are struggling or have fallen on hard times. Community service is important to me and every day I work to give back to my community, a community that has always supported me and fueled my passions. I volunteer daily caring for community cats within my neighborhood by providing shelter, food, and water, assisting with TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return), socializing the cats, and advocating for them in many capacities (benefiting the cats by providing food/shelter/protection and humanely managing their population and helping the people in the community by reducing behaviors like yowling, fighting and marking). Caring for community cats is a long-standing passion of mine - a passion that has led me to be currently brainstorming a non-profit cat organization to provide a sanctuary for cats in need and work to perform outreach and education efforts to support other cat caretakers in the community including providing food, spay/neuter surgery and other free services to caretakers and managing colonies across Colorado without a caretaker. I also volunteer at a farm animal sanctuary for abused/neglected animals, completing care tasks for these animals and providing one-on-one enrichment through positive reinforcement training. Meanwhile, during the "pika season", I volunteer for the Colorado Pika Project, hiking to pika sites throughout the Rocky Mountains and conducting surveys on the pika populations for future applications in pika conservation in the face of climate change. I volunteer with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers as well on a variety of projects throughout the year - including seed collections, tree planting, habitat reconstruction, watering/caging young plants, etc. - beautifying open spaces throughout the community and providing critical habitats for animals within the community. My future career as a Wildlife Biologist will allow me to continue to give back to the community, both those I am directly a part of as well as communities living in other regions such as Madagascar. My work will involve declaring biodiversity hotspots as protected and reforesting fragmented habitats in such areas (also providing storage of excess carbon in the atmosphere), conservation efforts for endangered species, education and outreach to foster a more humane way of living, and efforts to mitigate human-animal conflict in a mission to push us to a more modern, mutually beneficial relationship with animals and nature. Nature, animals, and the humans that call this earth home are meant to engage in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship, but we have become the parasitic organism to our world, draining the natural environment of its resources, destroying the habitats of so many other species and driving the life on earth - including ourselves - into a future of extinction and desolation of the natural environment we'd once shared. This future is not yet certain, as a community both locally and globally we must fight to create a humane and sustainable world - our legacy to the future generations that come after us. Let's not let a damaged and failing world be the legacy we leave behind as so many other generations have done.

I step out into the cool early morning breeze, food scoop in hand, I make one special call and am surrounded by cats of all colors, ages, and sizes. Each united in this colony, they are survivors, each and every one with their own story. A few had come to us near starvation, others with gunshot wounds or emotional issues from abuse. These animals are subjected to abuse at the hands of people, breeding and fighting to survive on the streets with their families all because of a few people who failed to fix their cats or abandoned them on the streets with nowhere to go. I've been doing this colony management and care at multiple locations since 2014. It is a passion that has led me to the point of currently working on planning for a non-profit sanctuary for cats from these harsh situations, one that will house cats in immediate need and help manage and provide resources for fellow cat lovers in the communities throughout Colorado and beyond. But my love of animals doesn't stop at the dozens of cats I care for, nor does it stop at the sanctuary for abused and neglected farm animals in which I volunteer completing daily care tasks and providing enrichment through one-on-one positive reinforcement training. I've never been able to resist an animal in need, and have spent a good portion of my life caring for animals and trying to find ways to help animals both wild and domestic. As soon as I could contemplate the issues animals of all kinds faced, I dedicated my life to saving animals in any way possible. And I've never looked back. In addition to volunteering at the farm animal sanctuary, I also volunteer with "Wildlands Restoration Volunteers" - working on habitat rebuilding and reforestation efforts to provide critical habitat for animals - and the "Colorado Pika Project" hiking to pika sites to assist in surveying the pika populations across the Rocky Mountains for future pika conservation applications in the face of climate change. Now, as a senior in high school, I am working toward the next chapter of my life and the next step to better the lives of animals - My college education as a Wildlife Biologist. I will be attending Colorado State University as a Wildlife Biology major with a double minor in Zoology and Restoration Ecology. As a long-time advocate and avid researcher on issues animals across the globe face, Wildlife Biology was a natural career choice. I will focus on preserving and declaring biodiversity hot spots as protected, providing a safe haven for species at risk, reforesting fragmented habitats, restoring and conserving the animal species that call these lands home, and providing much-needed education to people around the world to advocate for a more compassionate and coexistent future between animals and people. I will also use my education in zoology to offer positive reinforcement training to enrich the lives of exotic animals in zoo settings. I have dedicated my life to helping animals of all types, both wild and domestic, and will do everything in my power to continue to find ways to contribute to their well-being and utilize my career to protect all animals in need. Through my current (and growing) volunteer endeavors, my personal care of domestic animals, raising awareness and advocating, and restoring and conserving habitats and the animals that depend on these habitats, I truly feel that I can make a difference. We must all remember that this earth does not belong to us alone, but to all of god's creatures to live in harmony.

College is a proven resource to boost your success in life in many ways, propelling you to reach and exceed your goals in terms of education, career, finances, and even life or personal skills. I have many goals I hope to accomplish in the years after my graduation from college, armed with the knowledge I will gain from my 6+ years at the local college Colorado State University. But most imporantly, my college degree will allow me to make a difference in the world in a way that I have always dreamt of, preserving biodiversity hotspots, restoring damaged ecosystems, and conserving animal species. My degree in Wildlife Biology (along with my double minor in zoology and ecological restoration) will leave me well-equipped for the field of wildlife biology and achieving my goals. Ever since I can remeber, my mission has been to help animals and the enviroment in some way, all of my life I have been very interested in science and research both of which, it ends up, will be critical to my choosen career path. My research began with a large stack of endangered animal books which I thouroughly read with intense focues on the causes for their decline. To this day I am still an avid researcher investigating animal and enviormental issues. Through this research, I concluded that the ultimate best way to prevent the decline of such species and ecosystems is to preserve (and restore) the habitats they call home. As a wildlife biologist that is one of the main goals I will work towards. For so many of us it is difficult to imagine a world without such iconic species as elephants, zebras, giraffes, tigers, lions, lemurs, monkeys, and so many more. But unfortunatly, that is exactly the looming reality we currently face. At the current rate of habitat destruction for these animals their extinction is a risk of the coming decades. Imagine entire generations born into a world in which they've never had the luxury of the seeing these animals alive. Global warming and habitat destruction will destroy the world as we know it within the coming decades, devestating the climate and natural habitats and wiping out hundreds of species in its wake - unless we take prompt action to halt and reverse the effects. Those are the key missions I will undertake as a wildlife biologist, on the front lines to protect our Earths diversity. Doing so will not be an easy feat, but it is one that with the power of my degree from CSU, I will be prepared and willing to tackle, alongside my fellow colleages.

College will open the door to a career I've always dreamt of, Wildlife Biology. As a little girl, I already knew I wanted to make a difference in this world, specifically for animals and the environment. My parents bought me a multitude of "endangered animal" books which I thoroughly read and memorized many of the animal species that were endangered. My mission? To save endangered animals and preserve and restore their natural habitat and the ecosystems that exist in such habitats. That mission all came down to my career, the career that could combine all of those goals in a rewarding journey to make a difference. In Middle school, I discovered what that career would be, Wildlife Biology. Now as a senior in high school, the thing that excites me the most about college is the ability to finally make a difference for animals and the environment, both during and after my time spent at Colorado State University. While college will bring with it an extensive workload (especially considering my double minor in Ecological Restoration and Zoology in addition to my Wildlife Biology major) it will be worth it in the end. There will be challenges, difficulties, and failures, as there will be with most any goal worth achieving. All too often such circumstances can cause students to neglect their mental, physical and spiritual well-being. In order to avoid this I've already begun to devise a plan to maintain health mentally, physically, and spiritually. As many people do, I have a tendency to get stressed about things that I need to get done at night. Therefore I plan to get a to-do-list planner to place near my bed, as-needed I will write down a to-do list or things I want to accomplish, forgot, etc. to help me relax and forget about those topics knowing I can review them in the morning. I also plan to develop a nightly relaxing yoga routine for when I'm in college to stretch out and relax prior to bedtime. After I am done studying I will also engage in some meditation to clear my mind before moving on to any other activities left to do. When it comes to physical health, I will try to continue eating healthy in college (like ensuring I get protein and fruits/veggies in meals) and set aside dedicated times throughout my week to work out and stay fit. This will not only keep me fit and healthy in body but also boost my productivity as I've found success with in middle/high school. When it comes to spiritual health, I will make it a point to practice zen (a very important technique in a plethora of interactions from driving to peers and beyond) which I am currently attempting to hone, as well as practicing karate, yoga, and meditation to help me get in touch with myself spiritually. Continuing to take time for religion is also important in maintaining spiritual health. Mental and physical health are oftentimes neglected throughout college, luckily as a response to this trend many colleges including mine offer resources like a gym to keep fit physically, and mental health resources, I will also take advantage of these resources.

In this day and age and in the current time of a still lingering pandemic and repeated looming health and security threats people have become increasingly idle opting to stay home and avoid going out. I too had to give up tasks that generally brought a level of routine activity to my daily life, seemingly simple activities like buying groceries, going out for a walk in the town, Christmas shopping, events, etc. that bring us some needed movement halted to a stop. But most significantly, my weekly Parkour classes at the local gym, my main source of scheduled cardio, rolled to a halt. With limited activity and even more time spent at home in idle activity, I began to lose some of the benefits from my former activity level. With my schedule becoming more and more packed with things to do as I advance to the next chapter of life (College and Adulthood) I found it immensely difficult to set time aside for my health. Now as life is gradually returning to normal, I'm on a health and fitness journey, with the goal of becoming more fit overall physically and mentally. I have dedicated myself to a weekly strength, core, and cardio workout to restore myself to my previous fitness level and hopefully even beyond that. As well as focusing on eating healthier portions of food (including letace, tomatoes, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables). While busy schedules are notorious for preventing people from setting time aside to exercise, I'm well aware of the long-term benefits and productivity boosts that daily exercise provides. While I still set time aside most weeks for my workout I've discovered ways to fit in certain exercises in my daily routine as well. I now incorporate a small light stretch routine as I prepare for the morning, I perform wall sits or a yoga pose while I brush my teeth, opt to walk/bike to my destination when possible, and do things to make exercise time productive (like reading an educational book or a school required novel while running on the treadmill). These simple changes have already begun to gradually better my cardio, flexibility, and weight. My goal is to increase the time spent on these workouts, incorporate more heavy cardio, and stick with my current weekly exercise and my healthier food portions so that my health journey and routine is already well established when I start college next fall.

Limiting the toxins and pollutants that make it into our lives is becoming more and more difficult. With microplastics and "forever chemicals" making their way increasingly into our water and food supplies, practicing clean living is more important than ever. Many (but not all) of the toxins and chemicals that we are exposed to in our lives are preventable if we practice clean living. There are many ways (many of which I employ, or am currently trying to implement, in my daily life). Perhaps the most obvious "clean-living" change we can make has to do with diet. Avoiding processed foods, foods high in sodium, foods containing additives/preservatives, etc., and opting for healthier low-sodium, low-calorie, high-protein, and organic foods as a replacement. Another clean living tactic is to grow your own food allowing you to maintain control over what goes into the food and avoid pesticides and herbicides. If you drink tap-water it is important to check the quality of the water and install a filter and/or switch to recyclable bottled water deliveries. In many areas the pipes are rusted or the water supply is contaminated with a variety of harmful toxins that can cause even terminal diseases like Cancer. Opt for non-toxic and environmentally friendly household chemicals instead of products that contain harmful ingredients. Some examples would be avoiding aluminum and other damaging chemicals in deodorants, butyl acetate in nail products, glyphosate in weed killers, etc. While extremely obvious, avoiding other toxins like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, cigarettes, etc. is a great way to increase your lifespan and live clean. Clean living also extends to our environment and carbon images which we imbed in our planet. In order to reduce your environmental impact there are numerous things to do; Reduce plastic use (especially single-use plastics, our main contributor to the ever-increasing plastic oceans destroying marine ecosystems across the world), use less energy (or opt for environmentally friendly appliances and clean energy companies), reduce your polluting vehicle use, etc. There are so many tactics and changes, some of which are surprisingly easy to implement, that can lead to a "clean" life, low impact on the environment, and significantly healthier for all of us as individuals. I am an advocate for clean living - despite the fact that there are still numerous changes I'm currently working on implementing - I've already adopted many of the above practices. I avoid chemicals like weed killers, and toxins found in deodorant and household products, I (and my family) never smoke, do drugs, or drink alcohol, we grow some of our own fruits and vegetables, and we have made an effort (such as 5 gal deliveries of water rather than single use gallon jugs) to reduce our single-use plastic use. I encorage everyone to look into clean-living and make the decision to start the transition to a healthier life for both us and the world we live in!

Learning and excelling have always been important to me in life. From a young age, I chose an online school that would allow me to excel in advanced academics that fit my capabilities and knowledge and with the flexibility to surpass the required schedules. I worked hard to sustain my grades and achieve my learning goals throughout my school career and eagerly pursued hobbies and new learning opportunities in my free time. Now, as a Senior in High School, I am preparing for my next chapter of learning and expansion. I will be pursuing a Wildlife Biology major (Masters) at Colorado State University as well as a double minor in Zoology and Ecological Restoration. While a strong college education is a very critical step in my path of lifelong learning, I will not let my education come to a stop after my graduation from CSU. After graduating from CSU with my Masters in Wildlife Biology, I will pursue a second Bachelors degree at the University of Colorado-Boulder, although my Major there is currently undecided. Meanwhile, I will obtain my "Karen Pryor Academy Positive Reinforcement Trainer Certification" at their (mostly) online course, to expand my knowledge in animal training. After starting my own business in animal training and obtaining my Karen Pryor certification I plan to look into earning multiple training certifications with the "Animal Behavior Institute" as well, gaining experience in a variety of animal training specifications like service dog and exotic animal training. I will also potentially earn my Real Estate License to set me up for a real estate side gig. During my lifetime, I will also pursue a high level of fluency in both German and Spanish and work to found two nonprofits (an animal rescue specializing in transferring from kill shelters and a cat caretaker network supporting caretakers of cat colonies state-wide and beyond.) I thrive in learning and demonstrating new skills like playing guitar/violin, parkour, gymnastics, and ballet - all skills I currently practice as hobbies. Learning and expansion are not endeavors that should end after High School or College but endeavors that should remain and carry on throughout your entire life. Each of us should be constantly searching for ways to further obtain new knowledge, build new skills or build on existing skills, achieve ever-changing goals of education, and never let the inevitable failures that result from a life of learning stop us from achieving our goals.

Higher education is an increasingly overlooked key aspect to future success and life in general. Higher education allows us to expand our knowledge in a field of interest, network with others, and build integral life skills. College allows for a transition from a general required education to a life and career we each pick according to our true interests and desires. Ever since I can remember I've been striving to do something with my life and career to help animals and the environment. That vague mission has shaped my goals and accomplishments throughout my life. In my middle-high school years I slowly shaped that mission into my current goal; Majoring in Wildlife Biology with a double minor in Zoology and Ecological Restoration at my top-choice college Colorado State University, which I've since been accepted to. From those early childhood days spent tending to my cats, dogs, hamster, snake, fish, and lizards, and transforming our yard and natural spaces to welcome and support nature and wildlife of all types, I knew that I wanted to combine my love of wildlife, nature and domestic pets and do something that would allow me to support all of them. While my next step in higher education will begin at CSU pursuing my Wildlife Biology master's, my higher education will not stop there. I also have plans to earn my dog training certification from the Karen Pryor Academy to support the positive reinforcement cat and dog training business I plan to found during college. In addition, I intend to enroll at CU-Boulder for a currently undecided major to even further expand my knowledge base and gain the experience of attending both of the major colleges in Colorado which I've dreamt of attending. I'm also in the process of looking into earning a real estate license as a side gig and taking classes with the Animal Behavior Institute to gain critical animal training experience in separate concentrations from my original goals (Positive reinforcement trick/obedience training and behavioral modification). While achieving these goals will require endless hard work and financial support, higher education has always been an important future endeavor of mine and one that will open so many doors for me in the future as I progress on my journey. The hard work, time, and money spent on higher education is worth it in the end and I'm looking forward to beginning my higher education journey in the Fall of 2023.

As my dad says "If God has a language, it would be math", math is a maze of logical connections that people are still discovering to this day, The level of logic possible in complex math and the natural and daily applications are intriguing. As I have built on my previous classes I have seen the real logic and patterns that occur in mathematics, a phenomenon my parents had explained, coaxing me that math was like "building blocks", I must learn the foundation skills before I could build on them. After years of attempted tactics of procrastination, my parents were able to make math fun and interesting and I eventually began to appreciate the world of mathematics. In a world that is often jumbled, where things aren't what they seem, the pure logic, patterns, applications, and straightforwardness of math is refreshing. Now, In my Senior year of high school, I still have a love of math and its qualities and although my childhood reluctance and procrastination still lingers in these more difficult classes, I've come to understand math. Those same "math building blocks" that I learned are critical to the development, understanding, and independence of all people. Many children like myself miss the applications of math and the understanding it brings that can be applied to day-to-day activities, emphasizing these applications as my parents did and ensuring children learn and understand the contents of their math courses ensures future generations of well-educated individuals with an independent sense of logic and understanding for the mathematical phenomenons in life. Math ties into many other courses which students favor as well, like finance, science, and history, all of which have applications in math. Math is critical for our knowledge and expansion as an intelligent society and will always play an important part in my life - Since I plan to major in Wildlife Biology (which encompasses many complex math classes) and run my own business (financial planning and taxes) I will be putting my math knowledge to good use. Luckily for me, I will not have to dread my college math classes and future math applications, Thanks to my parents and their ability to make the most dreaded of classes interesting.

The best financial advice I ever received was from my parents – They simply said that it is important to make sure that you always make more money than you spend. As an adult, make sure every month that your income covers all of your expenses plus has some extra to put in savings. Try to build up that savings so that you have six months to a year of living expenses set aside, and after that, start putting the extra money into four buckets: One for investing, one for helping others, a bucket to save for any future goals like a house down payment, that new furniture you wanted, etc., and one for fun. The main point is to always focus on living well within your means. I keep careful track of my income and my expenses ensuring I employ the four bucket rule. I spend the amount I need for necessities each month, put some into my "bucket" for savings (I put a large percent into savings as I have many expenses coming up soon), I also set aside some of my income for helping others (donating to animal organizations, etc.), I'm currently working on setting aside my third "bucket" with money to invest and last, my favorite bucket of all is the bucket for fun money - this is the money I would set aside for road trips, vacations, etc. If you employ the above strategies in life, you will set yourself up for a financially stable future, and allow yourself a larger degree of financial freedom and flexibility.

Many inspiring individuals have impacted the field of wildlife and nature conservation, however, there is one who I admire most - Steve Irwin. The Irwins have long been known for their conservationist work to protect animal species, and unlike many who embark on their journeys without their families - the Irwins ventured out into the wilderness together, as a family. Steve Irwin ventured out on expeditions with his parents when he was little and continued the tradition with his and his wife Terri's two children (Bindi and Robert). Together, Irwin and his wife founded the "Australia Zoo", "Wildlife Warriors Worldwide" and multiple animal refugees to protect the animals and increase education and citizen involvement. Through their work, the Irwins made a difference in the lives of thousands of animals and brought knowledge of the animal's struggles to the general public overall improving the field of conservation for the animals and the environment. As I begin my own journey as a Wildlife Biologist and Conservationist I hope to follow a similar path to that of the Irwins - embarking on adventures with a purpose with my family (parents, brother, future husband, and our children) at my side. I also have a strong passion to protect animals and their natural environment and plan to declare many lands and biodiversity hotspots as protected as well as explore the option of opening a family-owned zoo. Steve Irwin has been a great inspiration for me throughout my journey of deciding on a career and developing my career and life goals. As Steve Irwin once said; "My job, my mission, the reason I’ve been put onto this planet, is to save wildlife" I too will embody these values.

I consider myself an optimistic person, someone who is able to remain determined and look forward to the future even when the future doesn't seem so appealing. While I try to be realistic I find that optimism in the current situation and for the future allows us to keep afloat and continue to fight for a better future. I often take my optimism and attempt to shape it into goals for my future and the future of our country and world as a whole. In recent years many people have experienced the effects of remaining optimistic in the past uncertain years, while the future was uncertain - thousands losing their lives, millions suffering from the grievance of loss, meanwhile crossing their fingers that they and their remaining loved ones would not be next, and those like my family that were lucky enough to avoid the pandemic at its worst but constantly lived in avoidance of normal activities to stay alive - the pandemic took a toll on people worldwide. Optimism was a key for many people to hope for a better future - hope for times when you could eat out with your family at a restaurant without fear for your life, a time when there was help for those in need, a time when a vaccine would be accepted into society to save the lives of millions. Optimism got us through the pandemic, and now that vaccines are widely available things can gradually return to normal among the vaccinated. There are more pandemics in the making, more chaos, more coup attempts on our government, but optimism and the desire to reach those goals that we hope for when we're being optimistic are what will keep us moving forward and it the end - ultimatly why we made it through.

Creativity is a way to express oneself, to create something with meaning, something to evoke certain feelings or emotions. My entire life I have been surrounded by creativity, my mom being an artist and graphic designer and my dad being a professional photographer I saw many of these creative expressions from a young age. I've had a passion for artistic endeavors since I was young, hoping to follow in my parent's footsteps in a creative profession - when I was young around 11 years old I developed a strong passion for Fashion Design, a career I'm still considering pursuing on the side with my own online boutique. I love the rush of creativity as you sketch a garment and choose the colors and textures of the fabric and the sense of accomplishment when you finish a piece and can show it off. Interior Design is another creative career I'm intrigued by - designing a space to create the desired mood and effectiveness for your client, picking furnishings for the home, choosing complimentary colors to portray the correct emotional effect, and seeing the finished project are all intriguing aspects to the work of an Interior Designer. Photography is another creative passion of mine, photographers have the ability to capture an image to convey an emotion or allow the real feel of the space to come through in their photographs. I also appreciate the ability photographers have to capture a treasured moment or memory for their clients, an ability that I will further shape into my career as an event, sports, wedding, and portrait photographer for my parent's company. There are endless ways to apply creativity to life, and I have embraced creativity and artistic expression as a strong passion that will continue on throuought my life.

There are many study strategies I've learned to achieve academic success. While in middle school, I choppily kept notes when I remembered to but failed to keep them organized. When I started my Freshman year of high school my parents purchased me binders for each class, I stored them near my desk and continually forgot to take notes and sort them into the binders, with the exception of my extremely thorough Biology notes (I plan to be a Wildlife Biologist after all). My Sophmore year I had developed strong note-taking skills. It was late Sophomore year that I developed my best study strategies. I would wright down the key points to the topic trying to capture as much information as I could. I would title each note page with subject and lesson and put them into their respective folders. Periodically (before exams or when I needed a refresher) I would skim for the simple description title at the top of the page until I found what I was looking for. I would review the concepts and return it to the folder. Detailed notes and practice questions to ensure my understanding of a topic are the two study strategies I have found to be most helpful for me to achieve academic success. Memorizing facts/formulas and understanding the concepts well is key to having real knowledge in a topic.

Generosity is general kindness to other living creatures both people and other animals, generosity is the act of helping those in need the best you can and the act of giving to others when you can. In recent times generosity has decreased in our society, people no longer feel that they should help others unless they themselves will gain something from their actions. There are of course exceptions, the people who are willing to help others and are glad to give to others whenever they can - it is these people who still practice generosity that can lead our society to a better future. Generosity is important in any society, there are ways to be generous to those around you without even taking much time out of your day; from simply offering someone your seat, holding the door, jumping someone's car, volunteering your time, donating your money and items, offering some cash or spare change to the homeless, giving treats (cookies, cupcakes, etc.) to neighbors and friends, shoveling someone's driveway, and so much more. Simply showing generosity to those around you with even the simplest gestures can improve someone's day and make you feel good about having offered help. Generosity should not be the exception but the norm.

Achieving my dreams, taking risks, stepping out of my comfort zone, choosing more challenging classes - these are all ways that I practice living boldly and bravery in my life. Living boldly - and safely - is key to an exciting and fulfilling life, one of my life mottos is; "Whats life worth living if you don't take risks". No, that motto does not mean that you should completely test your luck in a survival situation. What I mean by it is that you shouldn't live your life without adventure and occasional risks to keep things exciting. I strive to practice bravery and live boldly by ensuring the things I do in my life are something that I can look back on with pride rather than looking back on life only to wish I'd done more. I strive to live an adventurous life with plenty of fun times and adventures and accept opportunities when they come my way. Living in this way will require the bravery to try something new, to step out of the comfort zone and embark on a new journey. Living Boldly; Seizing opportunities, not being afraid to take a risk, etc. are all important to living a good and fulfilled life. Already I practice bravery and live my life boldly, I'm always looking for an adventure, a fun time with family, or an exhilarating experience - and I will challenge myself to take risks and live boldly by seizing the opportunity.

My bucket list is a very extensive list but it is these goals that I most want to reach in my lifetime. - Graduate from College (Masters in Wildlife Biology) - Start my own Animal Training Business - Start my own Animal Detective Business - Make a name for myself as a photographer - Start my own Animal Rescue (to save animals from euthanization beginning in the US and extending to other countries struggling with animal overpopulation, help pets find loving homes, and keep animals in their homes by providing resources to pet owners) - Buy acreage for my own home and horse stables which I can hold events (petting zoos, educational talks, animal care lessons, horse riding lessons, etc.) - Travel (to all 50 US States and many other countries with my family to experience the varying cultures, traditions, atmospheres, and all that each destination has to offer.) - Found "Twilight's Legacy Fund", an organization that works to outlaw ethylene glycol use in antifreeze and works to find viable treatment options to restore the quality of life to animals who have been poisoned (Twilight was my cat who passed away at just 3 due to antifreeze poisoning in 2019). - Declare at least 5 "biodiversity hotspots" as protected lands - Pass laws to ban "Single-use Plastic", and work to promote Hydrogen-powered vehicles and nuclear fusion energy use. - Write/Publish at least five novels There is so much that I want to experience and accomplish within my lifetime, and so many adventures and experiences I've experienced already in life. I chose just some of the things I wish to accomplish from an extensive list - bucket lists are beneficial as they keep us focused on achieving our goals and allow us to keep track of our achievements along the way.

The meaning of life - who truly knows what destiny is intended for them, the meaning of life is to make the most of it, make an impact in the world, follow your passions, and find your calling, there are endless ways to help in this world we just must gain experience and find our path in life. I embrace my passions and find ways to carve my own path in life based on those passions, I've spent my entire life in the presence of animals, from wildlife to domestic cats and dogs, and always had a passion to protect animals and enrich their lives. Protecting animals and ensuring a better world with more rights and measures taken to protect these animals is what I believe my calling is. I embrace this calling to work with animals and to help the people who are as passionate as I am about our animal friends both wild and domestic. Unfortunately, people struggle to live in harmony with the animals which inhabited these habitats prior to humans' invasion of their homelands and instead force them into extinction by pollution, deforestation, and poaching. These obstacles for animals are the reason that I decided to pursue a double major in Wildlife Biology and Zoology when I attend college - these degrees will give me the knowledge and credibility to address these issues and ensure the long-term survival of animal species and their ecosystems. The other half of my calling goes to working with domestic animals, I plan to found my own animal rescue focused on matching potential adopters to the ideal pet and transferring animals at risk of euthanization to adoptive homes. I also intend to start an animal training business while in college, and an animal detective business working to reunite pets and owners.

Each and every day I have endless things to be grateful for and appreciate; I'm grateful for the health of my family, pets, and me. I'm grateful to have a roof over my head and plentiful food to support us. I'm grateful for the time with my family and pets. I'm grateful for my education, for our travels, and for the endless possibilities in life. I try to take time every night to think of the things that I'm thankful for. As I pray each night I thank god for blessing me with such a wonderful family and life and for keeping me and my family all safe and healthy. Taking time to think of everything we have to be grateful for lets us see how great our lives truly are and focus on appreciating what we do have in life rather than focusing on everything that is wrong in life or that we wish we had. It is easy at times to take things for granted - feeling annoyed with the workload of classes when we should be grateful for our education for example - but focusing on having gratitude and appreciating all of the things we do have in life leads us to a happier life overall.

Everyone has their own opinions and beliefs regarding societal issues, religion, politics, etc. but not all of these people are willing to speak their mind. I've always been one to speak my mind and let my opinions be known while also practicing active listening to gain a better understanding of the opposing viewpoint. I remain committed to speaking my mind by; expressing my views and beliefs openly (many people hide their views and beliefs for fear of backlash, I have strong political beliefs and am a solid Democrat and will gladly let my opinions be known), I always make my case when faced with opposing views (explaining the reasons behind how I feel and allowing others to express their opinions as well), and finally, I don't allow others - regardless of their actions - to prevent me from speaking my mind and am willing to defend my views. Openly speaking your mind - regardless of the backlash that may bring - is critical to the advancement of society and can even help two sides of an issue find common ground.

In life, there will always be barriers and always those that tell you that you won't make it or that your dreams are unrealistic. The key to overcoming this is "confidence", the person who knows you best is yourself and you know what you are capable of. I've always been a confident person who doesn't hesitate to let my opinions be known and to continue towards my goals regardless of others' opinions. Confidence means the ability to move on and accomplish more than others feel you are capable of, to continue on your own path, and to remain firm in your beliefs and optimism not allowing others to sway you from your goals in life. Confidence is also demonstrated by being confident in your abilities, skills, and knowledge and therefore having the ability to accurately judge your capabilities. Being able to accept constructive feedback from others and consider the opinions and viewpoints of others is also a demonstration of confidence since you are capable of growing more from new knowledge and gaining a more diverse set of opinions to consider. People with more confidence are much more likely to succeed in life since they are confident enough to accept constructive feedback from others but also confident enough not to allow others' opinions or heckling to keep them from pursuing their dreams and succeeding in life. Confident people are also more likely to be respected by others. I practice confidence in my everyday life by standing up for what I believe in, hearing others out when they attempt to provide constructive feedback, not allowing others or their feelings/beliefs to sway me from my goals in life, carving my own path even if it's not a path others have taken and overall remaining confident in myself and my abilities.

No one knows what's going on in the lives of those they encounter on a day-to-day basis, we can't possibly know how their day has been, if they're struggling in one way or another, or even if they've just lost a loved one. I do my best to use the golden rule "treat others how you would want to be treated" in my daily interactions with others. Acknowledging others with something as simple as a smile or nod, simply responding with "please" and "thank you", and other simple gestures take very little time out of your day while still demonstrating your empathy to other human beings. My parents always tell me, "Try to be nice to people, Kindness does spread", there is no need to be rude to the people you interact with on a daily basis. Applying the Golden rule to your daily interactions allows you to put into perspective how your interactions affect those around you. Even though someone may not show their emotions outwardly we have no way of telling what is going on in their lives currently. Showing compassion and empathy in interactions with others and simply listening to people who are going through a tough time can demonstrate your empathy to those around you. Our world is already overflowing with enough violence, aggression, and lack of compassion and there is no need for us to spread such behaviors. Instead, everyone should work to show their empathy for fellow humans and spread kindness instead of hate. Spreading kindness is the only path to a more empathetic world.

After a hard day of work I appreciate the ability to relax; Lie down with a book, listen to some music, take some time to do Yoga or a light exercise, or Meditate. In the everyday stress of things, it is easy to get muddled mentally with work and other thoughts, Meditation and Yoga are good ways to clear your mind and improve your mental health. I plan to ensure that I continue to prioritize mental health when I begin college, by ensuring time to clear my mind with yoga, meditation, and light exercises and take time to myself to continue taking time away from work and the busy college schedule for my hobbies like reading, spending time outdoors and listening to music. Ensuring mental health and time for self-care and relaxation are important for all people, but become extra important during college and beyond. College students must deal with new responsibilities; many owning cars, covering the many expenses that come with college; tuition, living expenses, car maintenance, etc meaning likely working at least one job, working to complete a heavy workload while maintaining grades, and participating in extracurricular activities. I will ensure I continue to practice meditation, yoga and set time aside for self-care and relaxation during my time in college and my life after college.

I have many hobbies; Jewelry making, reading, sketching fashion/interior designs, photography, learning violin/electric guitar, spending time outdoors with family, etc. Many of these hobbies focus on self-improvement and learning or improving on skills. Jewelry making is one of my creative passions, since I was young I crafted bracelets with string and an assortment of beads and sold the jewelry from a stand in my driveway, now I have progressed to selling more complex jewelry accessories online. Currently, I am learning new Jewelry making techniques like wire weaving and working more with chains, stones, and beads. Reading allows me to expand my knowledge on a variety of topics as well as enjoy the artistic expression seen in fictional works of literature. While I do not feel that I am particularly skilled at drawing I enjoy improving my techniques to create sketches for fashion/interior design. Interior Design and Fashion Design are both careers I am also interested in and may one day pursue. Photography is a medium that allows me to express myself artistically, and one that I intend to pursue further, beginning this summer. I enjoy photography as a hobby and career and appreciate the ability photographers have to capture a treasured moment or memory for their clients, an ability that I will further shape into my career as an event, sports, wedding, and portrait photographer. Violin and Electric Guitar are two instruments that also open new doors to artistic expression, I'm currently working to memorize the notes and play songs that I know well. It is a dream of mine to perform songs for my family. Spending time outdoors with my family is a hobby as well and I love discovering new places and activities. As you can see, many of my hobbies are centered around self-improvement and creative expression.

Preforming vaults, laches over the foam pit, dive rolls, cat hangs, stem climbs, and tedious balances on a bar - these are all a part of parkour, one of my passions and talents. Parkour is known as performing moves to get "from point A to point B" and is a skill that must be practiced. At 13 I began taking Parkour classes, learning many movements and how to navigate a course of vaults, bars, rolls, stem climbs, etc. after two years of learning these maneuvers the pandemic hit forcing closures of the parkour gym. Thankfully, I was able to continue my passion for parkour thanks to the homemade vault and balance beams that my dad made for my brother and me to continue our skill progressions at home. I dedicate time multiple times a week - as I did when attending classes pre-pandemic - to learning new skills and practicing the skills I already know to ensure that I maintain my strength and skills for when I'm able to return to weekly classes at the gym. Currently, I am working to achieve my "Tree Band" by practicing the necessary skills to reach this level at home. My goal is to progress in the skills one level (Tree Band) before returning to Parkour classes in the future. While Parkour can definitely be classed as a "talent" it is also a skill that many people - even if not particularly talented at such movements - can learn.

As my dad says "If God has a language, it would be math", math is a maze of logical connections that people are still discovering to this day, The level of logic possible in complex math and the natural and daily applications are intriguing. As I have built on my previous classes I have seen the real logic and patterns that occur in mathematics, a phenomenon my parents had explained, coaxing me that math was like "building blocks", I must learn the foundation skills before I could build on them. After years of attempted tactics of procrastination, my parents were able to make math fun and interesting and I eventually began to appreciate the world of mathematics. In a world that is often jumbled, where things aren't what they seem, the pure logic, patterns, applications, and straightforwardness of math is refreshing. Now, In my Junior year of high school, I still have a love of math and its qualities and although my childhood reluctance and procrastination still lingers in these more difficult classes, I've come to understand math. Math is a critical subject and one that should remain mandatory throughout the school system. The same "math building blocks" that I learned are critical to the development, understanding, and independence of all people. Many children like myself miss the applications of math and the understanding it brings that can be applied to day-to-day activities, emphasizing these applications as my parents did and ensuring children learn and understand the contents of their math courses ensures the future generations of well-educated individuals with an independent sense of logic and understanding for the mathematical phenomenons in life. Math ties into many other courses which students favor as well, something students do not recognize generally until a later age, finance, science, and history, all have applications in math. For me, those classes were my science classes, and my reluctance to use math faded as I realized that Biology (my favorite class) had many practical applications for math. Math is critical for our knowledge and expansion as an intelligent society and will always play an important part in my life - Since I plan to major in Wildlife Biology (which encompasses many complex math classes) and run my own business meaning financial planning and taxes alone will force me to practice those math skills. Luckily for me, I will not have to dread my college math classes and future math applications, Thanks to my parents and their ability to make the most dreaded of classes interesting.

1. I do not have any particular profession I want to pursue in my life, so I don't know exactly what to do with this scholarship money. I simply heard it was time to start applying for scholarships, so here I am. 2. Academic goals? Completing high school so I can move on with my life. Are careers still necessary - can't you just give people tips on social media or videotape your travels to earn money? 3. If something stands in your way then you must not be destined to continue on that path, you should move on to something else.

Joy is the feeling of complete happiness and excitement, the feeling of living in the moment and embracing the present joys in life. Joy may mean differnet things to different people but everyone who has had the pleasure of feeling joyful understands the feeling of embracing a joyful moment. My joy in life often stems from my family and pets. I experience "happiness" very often, but for me, "Joy" carries a differnet meaning - Joy is the absolute happiness, a hapiness that causes you to focus on that present joyful moment. There are several things in which I find Joy, where I am happy to the point of focusing my attention entirely on that moment. That feeling often comes when my family and I venture out after dark, I've always been a night person, prefering to drive, go out for dinner, go for a walk etc. after the darkness of the night has set in. There is a differnet feeling about spending time out of the house after dark, a feeling that is difficult to explain but shared by fellow night owls and which to me is very associated with joy. Driving on an open road after dark with the windows down and the cool summer evening breeze in my hair, spending time in the near by cities downtown after dark wheather walking around, eating out, or doing some family photography, and taking an aimless afterdark drive to a random destination are just a few of my favorite afterdark past times my family and I enjoy, those activities bring me joy and are therefore one way in which I seek out joy in my life. Seeking absolute happiness is something many do, but only a fraction of those people are lucky enough to find joy in their lives.

My mom and I walked to the stairs, stairs that used to lead to our driveway but now led to what looked like a sea of water. It was 2013 and our neighborhood was flooding, the waters continued to rise and we were told to evacuate our home - to leave behind our belongings and life as we knew it and risk never again seeing it. Luckily for us, the floodwaters remained less than an inch from flooding our home. With every drop of rain, I cringed, fearing that rain might be the last drop to flood our home. My family - parents, brother, grandma, german shepherd, hamster, and I - lived in a nearby hotel for about two weeks. We had to persevere through the flood, living in a hotel, watching homes submerged and cars floating on the news, and worrying about our own home and belongings. From our hotel (near our neighborhood but on higher ground) we watched the flood progress, glad it missed flooding our home - by less than one inch. Perseverance often brings rewards and there is always a bright spot in the darkness, for me, that bright spot was the survival of my family and our new pet - Streak. My family and I were outside in the evening looking at the large earthworms laying in the moist parking lot behind our hotel, when my brother discovered a Texas Gardner snake (which he originally thought was an earthworm). I convinced my parents to let me keep him and so we had our newest edition to the family - Streak lived with us for 4-5 happy years before passing away. He demonstrated that even in times of stress and worry there is a "silver lining" and preservence is the key to discovering that silver lining.

Love of animals is a connection many share and one that can bring people together, my favorite way to help others is through our animal friends. Pets provide numerous benefits to their owners in the form of health, physical, emotional, and mental benefits - for some their pets are all they have. There is a passion that I have yet to pursue, but plan to as a young adult, and that is volunteering for Pet Partners with my cats to remind people - specifically children - of their pets back home and bring happiness to them while they are currently in a hospital setting (such as the Children's Hospital), I also wish to pursue the reading programs in which the cat sits quietly while children read to them to better develop their reading skills with a non-judgmental listener. As a pet owner myself, I can not imagine being trapped in a hospital unable to spend time with my pets who are a constant source of happiness and companionship. But, If I ever had to endure a stay in a hospital, seeing a therapy pet - especially a cat - would be a bright spot in the day. I've met multiple therapy dogs over the years but I have never met an actual therapy cat. Something I plan to give others the experience of seeing.

If I could share one sentence with the world, I would pick a famous quote by Mark Twain, "Its easier to stay out, than to get out". This quote makes a critical point that is too often ignored or not considered - Don't do something in the first place if you may want to get out of it later. In my opinion, Mark Twain's words are words to live by, a quote people should consider before acting, and one that is applicable in a variety of situations. Unfortunately, many people get involved in or make a habit of something which they later regret, but it's difficult to get out of or break the habit - avoiding such actions and habits in the first place would be a wise decision and save much trouble in the end. I employ this quote in my own life, considering the consequences of all actions before acting and avoiding getting into situations I may later want out of, and I strongly suggest that everyone else also considers and abides by this quote.

Happiness means different things to different people, and the ones or things that evoke these feelings vary widely. There are a lot of things that make me happy, that come to mind when I think of happiness. But there is one common thing throughout the times and places I've been happiest, and that is those I'm with - my family and pets. They are the ones who've been with me through the ups and downs life hands us and they are the ones who have always and will always make me happy. The memories we've built and continue to build are what come to mind when I think of the word "happy". Many people do not recognize how lucky each of us is to have happiness and those that make us happy, be it a pet, a parent, a sibling, or a friend. Happiness is important to achieving your goals and remaining determined.

From a young age, I've been passionate about protecting the environment and repairing the damage that has already been done. The expansive landscapes of open land and mountains have and continue to be some of the most memorable canvases for the adventures of my family and I. Generation Z and the past generations have always had nature to escape into -from society, from everyday troubles, from the chaos of city life - but sadly these generations have taken the pleasure of escaping into the natural environment for granted. With global warming and the ever-increasing human population, these open unprotected lands are disappearing, instead made into polluting gas stations or housing. Across from the parkour gym, my brother and I attended, used to be open land where you could watch prairie dogs and vultures enjoy the land - now it is an apartment complex. The land across from a nearby department store which used to be open farmland with trees and a pond - is now an active construction site. The human population continues to grow and the land occupied by housing complexes, stores, and gas stations will increase with it, pushing the wildlife and nature around us to either die or live among people in a situation potentially dangerous for all parties involved. My passion is to protect the environment and stop the progression of global warming and pollution to preserve the natural environment for the animals that call it home and for future generations to explore and experience their own adventures and memories as my family and I have and still do. I appreciate every moment spent in nature and always have - from running through the field to pick flowers with my mom after kindergarten, to hiking, camping, boating, biking, picnicking, and taking photos out in nature every moment in nature is a time to relax and enjoy the present moment. My studies and the work I plan to do after college are focused on that passion, for protecting the environment and the amazingly diverse ecosystems that are nature. The major I plan to pursue in college is Wildlife Biology which will grant me the knowledge and skills to ensure the safety of the environment and animals. With this degree, I will work to grant the "protected" status to more open land expanses while also working to outlaw or otherwise eliminate issues that are damaging to the environment and the animals living there (such as lack of renewable resource use, pollution, single-use plastic, deforestation, etc.) In addition to my Major, I am considering a Minor in Ecological Restoration to grant me the knowledge necessary for the mass reforestation efforts I hope to undertake. There is a dire need at this critical time in the world for others to embark on their journey to protect and restore the environment. Not only having a passion for protecting our environment and reversing the already harmful effects of global warming and other damages, but also taking action - In the near future, I expect an increase in students pursuing environmental studies such as Ecological Restoration, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and other majors similar to those I will pursue. Many people are interested in doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint but are unsure how to go about it. I would tell others curious about reducing their impact to reduce their single-use plastic consumption, avoid driving or polluting the environment when possible, chose companies that offset their carbon footprints or use renewable energy, donate time and money to reforestation efforts, recycle what you can, compost, and consider a career in environmental studies.

Online school, time with family, the internet, and my pets - these are a few of the simple pleasures I enjoy in my day-to-day life. While they may seem like odd choices, I feel that all of these are critical components to my success and happiness, and things I'm careful to not take for granted. Online Schooling - I'm thankful to be part of an online school since it allows me to set my own schedule in a way that allows me to spend time with family and have time for my extracurriculars and hobbies as well. Since my dad is a photographer we do travel often for work and schooling online allows me to go along with my family on these vacations while easily catching up or getting ahead prior to the trip. Time with family - Having time to spend with my family due to the fact that my brother and I homeschool and my parents work primarily from home is something I also value as many families do not have the luxury of spending time together on a daily basis and instead must spend time together around school and work. The Internet - If it weren't for the internet, discovering my passions, gaining non-school-related knowledge, and researching colleges would require much more work and inconvenience. The ability to simply type a question or school name into Google and get instant results is very beneficial and convenient when researching information (like that listed above). I'm thankful for the convenience and endless knowledge at my disposal thanks to the internet. My pets - spending time with my pets is not only beneficial to me mentally, emotionally, and physically but observing the behaviors of my pets over the years has fueled many of my passions like animal training and behavior.

Reading this prompt one thing comes to mind, cost. As time goes on, more and more people choose to skip the life step of attending college. For me, I knew I did not have to attend college, but it was always something I planned to do. Cost can be a barrier to many things in life when we let it and while many options; Financial aid, scholarships, grants, etc. exist to help students cover these costs it is no easy task and is often a daunting step for prospective college students. Student Debt plagues many adults' decades after they've completed their education. While the costs of a college education are reasonable, considering the knowledge that you walk away with in the end, student debt constantly takes on interest and further impacts the finances of those still struggling to pay off debt while far exceeding the costs of college had the student had the money to start with. An expiration on student debt would simply encourage people to avoid paying the debt until it passed the expiration date - so this is not a viable option. However, significantly limiting the interest rate or setting a specific number that is added on, regardless of time spent to pay off the debt, so that students can plan for a much lower overall set number from the start, may help people be less burdened by debt. Rather than the costs rising monthly or annually and further adding to the costs, a set loan fee is added on in the beginning and students must pay a set chunk every month or year depending on the plan. This way students can compare loan fees rather than interest and pay a set fee rather than constantly increasing their costs. I feel that this tactic would help students better understand the costs of the loans and pay them off in a timely manner without the added costs, in addition to the already expensive college tuition.

Everyday my family provides encouragement for me to follow my goals and passions, this support is something I might at times take for granted. However, many people are not fortunate enough to have people in their lives to encourage them to pursue their dreams for the future. When I get the opportunity to speak with someone who has goals for their future which they feel are unreachable, I'm quick to offer encouragement not to give up and that it will all pay off in the end. Many people are caught in the trap of believing their dreams are unattainable, but if everyone was willing to follow their passions and dreams and find ways around the obstacles to success - these dreams would become reality, prospective realities will lead us to real realities if we only fight to attain them. I'm thankful to my family for providing the endless support and encouragement for me to reach my goals, and I continue to encourage others to follow their passions that lead them to success and happiness.

There are many things I find motivation in, in my day-to-day life. One of which is looking back on how far I've progressed in life, how much my goals have evolved to be more realistic, attainable, and focused and how much I have improved in my passions and hobbies such as photography and animal training. Another motivation in my daily life is my family, who I'm quick to turn to for motivation and encouragement. I realize the importance of the impact I wish to have on the world, playing a part in the restoration of our native species and ecosystems, helping captive animals through training and enrichment, educating future generations about current issues to avoid a repetition of history, helping end the euthanization of animals across the U.S, helping combat societal issues currently present etc. The endless opportunities for the future and my drive to make an impact in the world are also motivating factors on a daily basis pushing me to do my best in the present and set myself up for success. I believe my parents were my biggest motivator from a young age encouraging my passions and goals in life and always helping me achieve what I wanted too, and they continue to this day to be my main motivators - constantly supportive of my goals and offering advice to help me on my path.

Everyone is an individual with the right to follow their passions and dreams wherever that may lead them and regardless of their race, gender, religion, or any other personal characteristic. It is the diversity, the varying personalities, and character traits that keep this world interesting and progressing. Racial diversity is even critical for the survival of the human race. In recent years sexist and racist behaviors and beliefs have been on the rise. Unfortunately, many people had these feelings but attempted to keep them more masked - until our own former president, Donald Trump, emulated and normalized these beliefs, therefore, making people believe there was a place for such prejudice and hate in our world, if not, how would our own president represent so many of those traits? Reversing these effects will not be easy for future and increasingly diverse generations but the first step is recognizing that everyone is equal, no one regardless of what their ancestors have endured is any more entitled or deserving of any more special treatment than anyone else - doing so is racist or sexist to all parties involved assuming certain people need extra help to reach their goals while also leaving others out of the opportunities entirely. I try to advocate for true equality - not seeing people as fitting in a different "population" from everyone else but rather recognizing everyone as an individual of equal importance. This mentality of recognizing people only for who they are as an individual is the first step to true justice and equality.

I want my legacy to be one of improving the world around me and the lives of the people and animals that I encounter. I will spend much of my life advocating for issues that I find important while also contributing money and time to causes such as; ending global warming, reforestation efforts, preserving and restoring endangered animals and ecosystems, helping the homeless, ending the overpopulation of companion animals, working to support efforts to discover cures from common diseases like cancer and dementia, etc. I will also foster and adopt as many animals as I can, specifically helping those that need extra help such as seniors, special needs animals, animals with behavioral issues, pregnant/nursing mothers, and orphaned kittens and puppies. This will be a part of my legacy known mostly by those who knew me well or whom I worked with to rescue these animals. As an extension of this goal, I'm considering starting my own animal resuce to help me further implement my goals of ending euthanisain in the United States and beyond and helping owners find the resources they need to continue life with their pets. In the end, I want my legacy to be one of helping animals and people whenever I got the chance and interacting with everyone with integrity and honesty, leaving behind a world that was better for my children and the generations to follow, and having been a successful business owner who effectively helped people and animals in all endevenors that I undertook. Most importantly to me is that I made an impact in the world and was there for those closest to me whenever I was needed.

Choosing the biggest problem in the world currently is a hard task. There are an endless number of possible answers to this question. People have survived many struggles thus far but now a new challenge faces us. "New" is a questionable word since this particular problem has been warned of for decades, but thanks to the denial of previous generations the seemingly distant warning from decades ago is now taking effect. That issue is - Global Warming. As has been suggested for decades, the sources of global warming need to be eliminated promptly; meaning eventually only electric vehicles on our roads, primarily renewable/clean energy, better practices for plastic use (banning unnecessary plastics, finding alternatives, and promoting recycling and reuse). However, considering how long the warning was ignored, the issue now extends further than just stopping the sources of global warming. If the sources that led to global warming were completely stopped and efforts were made to repair the damage (technological advancements to remove/store the carbon and reforesting efforts as a means to store carbon) then the issue, after decades to centuries without pollution and with continued efforts to remove the carbon and allow the ozone layer to hopefully return to a more normal state, it is possible that the issue of global warming would become one that many would consider as an issue "of the past". Curing the issue of global warming, however, would mean that people centuries from now, no matter how beneficial or efficient it would seem to return to the past times of plastic oceans, pollution, and global warming, would resist the urges and not allow history to repeat itself. Our current efforts regardless should be focused on stopping and reversing global warming and giving future generations the chance to maintain our world in a better state.

Nature was an important part of my childhood and one I always looked forward to. My parents encouraged my love of spending time outdoors and we went out in nature on various adventures like hiking, camping, horseback riding, boating, biking, picnics, and so much more. The preservation of national parks like Rocky Mountain National Park created a haven of protected nature and forests for our endless family adventures. While National Parks are likely to remain a part of our world for a long time, global warming is changing the animals and environment you will soon experience in national parks around the world. One of my and my family's favorite pastimes is still spending time in the mountains and going on countless adventures as a family. The experiences we've had and continue to have and the memories my family and I have and still make are very important to me and something I wish for my children and other future generations to be able to experience as well. With my lifelong love of nature, it comes as no surprise that I wish to dedicate my life and career to preserving and restoring the natural environment and the animals that call it home, so future generations can experience nature on the level that I have. A luxury that is often taken for granted.

Everyone has something that inspires them, that keeps them progressing towards their goals in life, that helps them remember what's important, and that fuels their journeys in life. My parents and brother help me achieve my goals with the endless support of my interests and willingness to contribute however possible to these goals. My ambitions and passions also fuel me to continue working towards my goal of attending a local college to earn my Bachelors degree in Zoology and my Masters degree in Wildlife Biology. Our Earth is at a critical point right now. Many of the forests that used to keep global warming at bay while providing critical habitat for hundreds of unique species are currently threatened. This is not the balance of living that we require for all species to coexist peacefully. My degrees will give me the knowledge and authority to help advocate for increased preservation of open spaces and national parks, restore and preserve the natural environment, plants, and animals existing in these habitats, and help people learn how to coexist with wildlife in our lives and home sites. My recognition of the importance of such work in today's world fuels me to continue on my path, regardless of the challenges I face along the way.

Many generations have primarily decided to ignore the large issues in their lifetimes that needed to be addressed. The failure to address issues when they occur only leads to bigger issues being passed on to future generations. Now, the world that has been left for Gen Z to grow up and live in seems bleak at times. However, there is hope for our future, people like Greta Thunberg have voiced the concerns of Generation Z and allowed others to find their voices and express their concerns. We - people - are slowly making progress in our world, but as the saying goes "one step forward, two steps back". Generation X and Millennials were known to be more socially conscious and aware of the issues the world faced than previous generations, but Generation Z is so far known for their outspoken nature and the importance of addressing issues like global warming and threats to our Democracy. These feelings align closely with my own and I feel that America, under the control of Generation Z, is likely to face better times in terms of political issues, global warming, social issues, human rights, humane treatment of animals, animal rights, etc. While we are at an uncertain time right now I have hope that the world will soon improve drastically. Already Generation Z is representing their unwavering wishes to improve America and the world as a whole and care about a wide range of important issues. I feel hopeful that the future will be better thanks to the increasingly conscious generations and I plan to be a part of the action to make America a better place for both animals and people, with a secure future for the children of Generation Z and the future generations that will follow and a world and society that generation Z can be proud of.

I have two skills that I consider my "best skills" - training animals and photography. Of course, there is always room for improvement and I strive to do my best at everything that I do. When it comes to training animals, I'm constantly challenging myself with the idea of teaching them a new difficult task that I have not yet attempted. For example, My cats are trained in a variety of tricks and basic obedience and will run an agility course following a laser pointer. However, I'm currently working to individually "shape" (as we say in the Clicker training world) to teach them to perform each task with a simple verbal command rather than following the laser pointer. I'm also pushing myself to beat the world record for "most tricks performed in a minute by a cat" with my cat Mika. This is a challenge for both of us, but I'm confident we will eventually reach the goal as long as I continue putting the time into training her. When it comes to photography, I have taken many pictures over the years and have a good vision for the composition and aesthetics of an image but still have many skills to learn and improve on. I'm currently working to learn/memorize the camera settings through trial and error to know what settings will work for specific scenarios as well as working to learn new photography styles such as architectural, portrait, event, product, and drone photography to expand my skill set in Photography.

Work and academics are very important to me in my life. However, self-care allows me to continue achieving these goals as I'm able to remain focused, taking the time for self-care and relaxation is something I do everyday to take a break from working. My favorite ways to practice self-care through self improvments and relaxation are; Yoga, Spending time in nature, reading, meditation, doing a light exersise, spending time with family and pets, working on a hobby, sketching etc. All of these allow me to take a chance to step back from whatever I am currently working on in school or work and relax or spend some time on a hobby of mine rather than focusing soley on work. Practicing Self-care does not often take up much time in the day, however many peoople still forget or skip self-care throughout the day. Self-care is something that I too at times forget, currently however, I'm trying to focus more time on things such as yoga and meditation to clear my mind and relax which allows me too be more focused when I return to my school and work.

After securing a career, many people's "growth mindset" begins to fade out, their desire to continue learning and growing has faded. They've endured twelve years of schooling and likely pursued higher education in college. While all of this is included in my planning, my growth mindset will not end there. I've maintained a growth mindset most of my life, trying to do my best in the school I had to complete at that time and improving or learning new skills and hobbies in my free time (Violin, Guitar, Parkour, Dance, Yoga, etc.) I plan to begin volunteering with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Habitat for Humanity, and become part of the National Honors Society this year to help expand my skillset and knowledge. I'm also learning German while in High school and plan to learn Spanish while in college. After I graduate from High School I will pursue my double major in Wildlife Biology (Masters) and Zoology (Bachelors) and am considering another bachelor's degree in a field I have not yet narrowed down. During my time in college, I plan to begin working at my parent's company as a photographer and marketer and will start my own animal training business. After I've obtained my degrees likely ending with a Masters's and 1-2 Bachelors's degrees and have established my place in my parent's business and my animal training business I will still continue my education by pursuing my Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP) certification and simutanosly building my career as a Wildlife Biologist/Zoologist. While I do not know at this time what further accomplishments and growth I will undertake in the future, I plan to maintain a growth mindset and follow my passions while continuously building on my knowledge and skillset, always expanding my knowledge and welcoming new experiences.

Listening is to me the act of remaining open-minded and understanding, even if the person I'm talking to does not share the same feelings that I do on the topic, I try to at least comprehend their viewpoint and allow them to explain their reasons for feeling that way. This is a skill I'm still working on, as I have very strong beliefs and feelings on certain topics and have a tendency to try to convince the person to take on my viewpoint rather than giving them a chance to express their own. I've been working to allow people to express their side of the story and constructively present my own argument in a calm manner to at least show them how others with an opposing viewpoint are thinking, while also gaining an understanding of the opposing side myself. Truley listening to another point of view will either strengthen and reinforce your own viewpoint or expand your own understanding of the topic. There are many contreversial issues in the world especially in modern days, such as political, racial, and moral issues. Some of which are based on misunderstandings that could be alleviated if people were only capable of listening actively and keeping an open mind when speaking to others. In my life and career, I will undoubtedly speak with those who have different viewpoints than my own. I will do my part to fill such communication gaps by actively listening and communicating with others I encounter. If everyone listened actively and held constructive conversations rather than heated arguments we would all have a better understanding and everyone would be more informed and educated.

Many people often allow themselves to "settle" in life, assuming the life they had dreamed of having is unreachable. But it is those seemingly "unreachable" goals that keep us going in life and encourage us not to give up and to achieve the life we've always dreamt of achieving. Settling in life causes people to feel discouraged and unhappy - feelings that can lead to a short and unfulfilled life. Me, I've always tried to embrace my dreams for the future and fought to achieve them. I push myself to achieve my goals regardless of how unattainable I find them at first. I'm currently spending my last year and two months of high school maintaining my GPA and living a happy life by spending time with my family and following my passions. Attaining my goals of a bachelor's degree in Zoology and a Masters's degree in Wildlife Biology will grant me the ability to follow my dreams and have a fulfilling career that I'm happy to be in - having a career you are happy pursuing and spending your entire life in is to me one key to living a long and healthy life. Maintaining happiness (in your career and social life), refusing to settle, following your passions, and maintaining healthy habits (not just through eating and exersise but avoiding damaging habits) are all ways to live a long, healthy, and fulfilled life and tactics I employ in my own day-to-day life.

Chester sat staring up at me, a confused look in his eyes as he tried to perform a beg once more. "Boom" I repeated. Another look of confusion as he raised his paw in the air in a "wave". I knew he had this but he couldn't seem to remember his command, "Patience" I said to myself. I stood calmly looking down at him, Chester stared into my eyes for a moment and then becoming disinterested flopped down on his side. I clicked the clicker - he jumped up with a look of satisfaction in anticipation of a treat - "good" I said handing him the treat. I repeated the command again "Boom" and moved my hand in a swiping motion, he laid down on his side, and I clicked and handed him the treat. The moment that the animal understands the cue is the moment that all animal trainers strive for - and as the saying goes "Good things come to those who wait". Many readers probably assume that I'm talking about a dog. But Chester is my mom's cat whom I train on a regular basis, my passion for training cats is the model for my future business. I am an aspiring animal trainer and I wish to specialize in training cats' in various behaviors, working by the motto that cats can do anything a dog can do. As you can imagine, patience is a core skill to have in that line of work - if you've ever attempted to lure a cat to run through an agility course, you know patience is a must. Patience is a key skill of mine and one that I pride myself in to be able to train cats and guide their owners through training exercises.

My whole life I've grown up around animals. I've seen from a young age the resilience and intelligence of animal species - specifically cats - often discounted as being untrainable. When I was four years old, I set out to train my cat Sabratsa. I figured if dogs could learn tricks, why not cats? My parents warned me that she may not do tricks the way a dog would, nevertheless, by the end of the day I brought my parents out to our backyard and commanded Sabratsa to perform a series of tricks with minimal hand motions (come, sit, beg, down, high-five and stay) which she performed - flawlessly. My ability to demonstrate how intelligent she could be and to correct the assumption that cats could not be trained, grew into a passion that continues to this day. When I was 12 I came across "adventure cats" which are cats trained to accompany their owners on many adventures from walks at the park, to hiking, riding in a bike basket, camping, and boating. I began training my 4-month-old kitten to wear a harness, heel at my side, and ride in the car. By the time he was 6 months old, he was accompanying us to the park, sports games, camping, and hiking. Currently, I continue these adventures with my cat Twiger, and am working with my cat Mika to beat the world record for "most tricks performed by a cat in a minute". Needless to say, my family are now firm believers. While in college, I plan to continue this passion by starting my own cat training business to continue demonstrating the true intelligence and skills of cats and to help other cats reach their full potential while enabling owners to bond with and spend more time with their cats.

Our world is facing many challenges from looming threats of war, global warming pushing our world to the point of being uninhabitable, diseases wiping out millions of people, and so much more. Repairing these issues is far from an easy task and is certainly not a task to be taken on by one person. Many people want to help but lack the knowledge or feelings of power to achieve the goals. The more people that ignore the threats to our world, however, the worse things will become. Everyone - all countries, all citizens - need to work together to swiftly stop global warming so that it does not continue to get worse while meanwhile working to reverse the global warming that has already occurred. Protecting and reforesting critical areas of land is one of the goals that I want to pursue with my degree, I plan to work to declare biodiversity hot spots and remaining forests and surrounding lands as protected areas. After these lands are protected I will begin work alongside others with similar passions to restore native plant and animal species in the territory and repopulate the animals extinct in the wild, from zoo and sanctuary populations. As for global warming, reforesting so many forests would help combat global warming gradually. I wish to positively work to end and reverse global warming to better our world for years to come. There are problems with declaring lands as protected and therefore not allowing people to build homes or other facilities on these lands. A careful balance between peoples living space and nature will need to be made. But if we don't act soon - neither animals nor people will have a place on this earth.

I've had a passion for animals, nature, and the environment all my life. Which Is why I chose to pursue a double major in Zoology (Bachelors) and Wildlife Biology (Masters) to give me the knowledge I need to succeed in my career goals. With the knowledge I obtain from these programs, I will preserve and restore ecosystems and the animals inhabiting the region. My zoology degree will let me observe animal behavior to apply to my work in the field of Wildlife Biology, I also plan to work on positive reinforcement training with the captive animals to educate visitors while also allowing vets and zoo staff to more easily perform needed husbandry care. While In College and beyond I plan to start my own animal training business for domestic cats and dogs as well as begin my work as a photographer/marketer for my parent’s company, Wildlife Biology will give me an outlet as well to take my Nature Photography. I’m very passionate about animals and the environment we live in and strive to help preserve that natural environment while helping better the lives of wild and domestic animals. I feel that my work is critical in today’s world to help slow global warming and begin the struggle to combat and reverse the impact people have made on the environment thus far.

I've had a passion for animals, nature, and the environment all my life. Which Is why I chose to pursue a double major in Zoology (Bachelors) and Wildlife Biology (Masters) to give me the knowledge I need to succeed in my career goals. With the knowledge I obtain from these programs, I will preserve and restore ecosystems and the animals inhabiting the region. My zoology degree will let me observe animal behavior to apply to my work in the field of Wildlife Biology, I also plan to work on positive reinforcement training with the captive animals to educate visitors while also allowing vets and zoo staff to more easily perform needed husbandry care. While In College and beyond I plan to start my own animal training business for domestic cats and dogs as well as begin my work as a photographer/marketer for my parent’s company, Wildlife Biology will give me an outlet as well to take my Nature Photography. I’m very passionate about animals and the environment we live in and strive to help preserve that natural environment while helping better the lives of wild and domestic animals. I feel that my work is critical in today’s world to help slow global warming and begin the struggle to combat and reverse the impact people have made on the environment thus far.

I've had a passion for animals, nature, and the environment all my life. Which Is why I chose to pursue a double major in Zoology (Bachelors) and Wildlife Biology (Masters) to give me the knowledge I need to succeed in my career goals. With the knowledge I obtain from these programs, I will preserve and restore ecosystems and the animals inhabiting the region. My zoology degree will let me observe animal behavior to apply to my work in the field of Wildlife Biology, I also plan to work on positive reinforcement training with the captive animals to educate visitors while also allowing vets and zoo staff to more easily perform needed husbandry care. While In College and beyond I plan to start my own animal training business for domestic cats and dogs as well as begin my work as a photographer/marketer for my parent’s company, Wildlife Biology will give me an outlet as well to take my Nature Photography. I’m very passionate about animals and the environment we live in and strive to help preserve that natural environment while helping better the lives of wild and domestic animals. I feel that my work is critical in today’s world to help slow global warming and begin the struggle to combat and reverse the impact people have made on the environment thus far.

I've had a passion for animals, nature, and the environment all my life. Which Is why I chose to pursue a double major in Zoology (Bachelors) and Wildlife Biology (Masters) to give me the knowledge I need to succeed in my career goals. With the knowledge I obtain from these programs, I will preserve and restore ecosystems and the animals inhabiting the region. My zoology degree will let me observe animal behavior to apply to my work in the field of Wildlife Biology, I also plan to work on positive reinforcement training with the captive animals to educate visitors while also allowing vets and zoo staff to more easily perform needed husbandry care. While the course work may be challenging I'm not willing to abandon my passions just because of some roadblocks and plan to utilize the college resources - such as tutoring, to ensure my success. While In College and beyond I plan to start my own animal training business for domestic cats and dogs as well as begin my work as a photographer/marketer for my parent’s company, Wildlife Biology will give me an outlet as well to take my Nature Photography. I’m very passionate about animals and the environment we live in and strive to help preserve that natural environment while helping better the lives of wild and domestic animals. I feel that my work is critical in today’s world to help slow global warming and begin the struggle to combat and reverse the impact people have made on the environment thus far.