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NWP Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists - Fortuna, California, USA

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20879208792087920879208792087920879208792087920879Creeks1
Fortuna, California, USA
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agvst1n



Registered: August 2016
City/Town/Province: Fortuna
Posts: 1
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Mid-way through my usual 5 mile run around the magnificent Redwood Trees, the ones that my community and I have come to nurture and cherish, I paused for a moment. I paused and for once I did not rush to break a segment record on Strava, I did not race myself for a better time than I did last, I simply took in my surroundings and really truly just admired it. All my life these giants, these pillars of nature hung around me. Everywhere I went there were magnificent trails, rich with plant life. The ambient was so pure, so vibrant it was a feeling that made me return every time. But as the days and weeks went on after that run, I began to realize that maybe everything wasn't so pure and clean as I once thought it was. What once had been a single path covered in the natural decay of plants and Redwood needles was now a path covered in plastic bottles and jotted with miscellaneous food wrappers. It was almost like something had been taken away from me. Something everybody I knew had come to enjoy was suddenly gone and replaced with litter and the ever growing empire of industrialization. Coming into my freshman year I acknowledged there was something that needed to be done and pledged I would contribute in whichever way I could. I joined my school's Creeks club and somehow, even as a small freshman, managed to get nominated for an officer position. Throughout the year we worked with the Pac-Out Green Team doing clean ups in several areas of Humboldt County. By doing so, there was no better feeling than arriving somewhere and leaving the natural environment healthier than it was when we got there. I attained so much pleasure I decided to run for President again the following year, only that time I actually got voted in. With this new-found interest of environmental sciences, systems, and engineering many new doors opened for me as an individual. For the first time in my high school they offered an incoming sophomore to take AP Environmental Science. I gladly accepted and have been working on my service project for that class all throughout summer: maintaining and rebuilding a school garden everybody can benefit from. Not only this, but the same professor who introduced me to APES contacted me with one of the professors of my local university (Humboldt State University). After speaking with the head director of the Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) I was offered an internship for the summer between my sophomore and junior year. The job I'll be doing is unclear, but will most likely consist of analyzing data retrieved from a newly constructed off grid solar power system they recently installed. Never would I have thought my usual run would spark a chain of events this drastic in my life. I'm truly satisfied with the path I have taken, and even more so satisfied with the general passion for this topic that I have acquired.
· Date: August 9, 2016 · Views: 4236 · File size: 16.2kb, 105.1kb · : 960 x 599 ·
Hours Volunteered: 162
Volunteers: 27
Authors Age & Age Range of Volunteers: 15 & 14 to 19
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