Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Since I was a young girl, I wanted to visit and see why people loved California beaches. I grew up in Arkansas and all I have ever seen in all my fifteen years were ponds, lakes and rivers. I have always loved the environment and going to play outside was more fun to me than any amusement park could offer. I would nag my parents for hours on end to take me to California just for one day, just for one hour to see what amazing beaches were lingering there.
After many years of begging to go to California, we finally went during the summer of my freshmen year in high school. The flight took about 3 hours or so and all the while I was doing my reading about California and all the attractions there. Of course all I really cared about was the beaches.
We finally got there when I had the surprise of my life. The first beach we went to had so much garbage lying around I almost started crying. We ended up staying longer than we thought that day and we spent about 4 hours off and on picking up trash around the beach.
After we were done I felt extremely wonderful that I, a mere 15 year old girl, could help everyone around me have a better environment and could make a difference. By taking a little bit of time out of my day to give back to mother nature, what she so richly deserves for all the things she does for me everyday.
When I got back home I, then by myself, went to the local pond, river and lake and planted one tree to do my part in giving back to my Earth.