Day 7 Looking Back/Looking Forward
Saturday, July 6 2019
As we shift our focus and time zone, and arrive in Washington DC, we have taken the time to think back on the best moments of the past week and the anticipation of what is to come. Here are the thoughts of the participants as they reflect and prepare for what lies ahead.
LOOKING BACK
--
Submitted by Audrey Dickenson:
One of my favorite activities from the past week was the crash course about public speaking on Tuesday. We worked in teams of five to address fluency, body language, and filler words. For each of these areas, we delivered one-minute speeches on randomly selected topics; at the end of the night, we evaluated overall quality in individual two-minute speeches to the entire group. I had an amazing time during this session because I’m rather opinionated and a natural storyteller. With my captive audience, I delivered hot takes on everything from childhood nightmares to the movie The Silence of the Lambs. When I received my evaluations from my longer speech on the Galaxy’s Edge park in Disneyland, I was honestly surprised that people liked my presentation so much. In school, I had always conceded that public speaking was my unavoidable weak point. Doing this public speaking boot camp proved that I am, in fact, capable of effective and coherent communication in front of a group! Of course, this will prove necessary when I meet with my Representative but I will carry this lesson with me for the rest of my life.
--
Submitted by: Whitney Barnett
Thinking back to my preparation for this program, I was most excited for the DC leg of the trip and was slightly uncertain about the science aspect of the program, mostly because I have never considered myself a STEM-oriented learner. However, over these past few days, I was more engaged and interested in the subject matter we were discussing than I can ever remember being. I was a part of the Carbon Team with our research group, and what we learned and what we did sparked a passion for climatology, specifically ocean climatology, which I never knew existed.
One thing which significantly impacted my interest level and understanding of the subject matter is that we were in an authentic learning environment, meaning we all shared a common, genuine interest in the subject matter, which was not only validating, but also encouraging. Finally, I believe the supportive nature of not only the instructors, but also all the participants brought us together in a way which allowed us to thrive while learning.
--
Submitted by Chloe Haner:
Something I wanted to reflect on was when we went to the beach and quote on quote tried to collect data via a bucket, string, grapefruit, and a stopwatch. Doing those experiments was such a delight that I would do it again just for fun. It was also fun to have just a relaxing day at the beach to kind of wind down and really take in San Diego and its beauty. During boogie boarding I saw what appeared to be a sting ray in a wave and can only describe it as a moment in finding nemo where the turtles disappear after going down the current. July fourth had to have been my favorite day yet so far.
--
Submitted by: Peter Tangikyan
The first ever moment I was truly fascinated during the GELS program was the day we saw physical pieces of ice from Antarctica. This encounter was quite unusual, as it occurred in the most unconventional setting. Pounds of prehistoric Antarctic ice were disposed of outside the Scripps Institution of Oceanography because the scientists did not need those samples anymore. Just a typical day at Scripps... I was mesmerized looking at the millions of tiny gas bubbles within the glass-like, shiny, transparent ice. The piece of ice I was holding was probably over a thousand years old. These ice pieces are not only spectacular to look at, but they hold crucial information humans need to preserve Earth. Using ice samples, scientists are able to track CO2 levels in the gas bubbles, which in turn allows us to understand the composition of our atmosphere before recorded history. This information enables us to view the damage humans have caused in the world by their CO2 pollution, which hopefully inspires people to live more sustainable lives. It still awes me how an inanimate piece of Earth can tell us a story written centuries and maybe millenniums ago. I will forever remember this day because I was able to hold a unique piece of ice that had unrecorded history within it.
--
Submitted by: Cha Thompson
Looking Back...20,000 years
On the fourth day of this educational trip, we went to a very impactful place. As Maya and Jacob (Scripps scientists) had been talking about what they do at Scripps with the ice shelf and the ice, I got more and more fascinated by it. The more ice was talked about, the better understanding I got for it and that I want to (potentially) study the ice shelf as a career choice when I get older. I found it absolutely awe inspiring when Jacob took us into the freezer where they kept the ice because the ice holds so much information about the past in the layers and in the bubbles trapped in it. I knew scientists could track the amount of snowfall and dust each season by the layers in the ice. However, when Jacob mentioned the vacuum that sucks the bubbles out of the ice and can transform those molecules in the ice into a model of what the atmosphere was composed of, my mind was blown. I had no idea it was possible to transform bubbles trapped in the ice into data that showed the composition of the atmosphere. I am glad GELS gave me the opportunity to learn something new that might impact my future. And, to be honest, it was really cool holding ice that is 20,000 years old. If it wasn’t for Scripps, I would not have known about using the bubbles in ice and not known about what the atmosphere was composed of all those years ago.
--
Submitted by: Alex Huen
Looking back over the past week, I realized I have learned so much more than I expected originally. Not only did we learn about the basics of climate change, and how climate change will affect our environment, we were also exposed to methods that will make us a better and more confident speaker. Even though we were exposed to numerous amounts of topics, I was particularly excited about writing the issue paper, since it is a hands-on activity that prepares us for our meeting with the representatives. Compared to all the lectures, experiments, and activities we did for the past week, writing the issue paper was definitely more challenging. It requires extensive research when finding the right bill, critical thinking when we have to include all the information on one single page, and a lot of time to finalize our draft. At first, I was having a hard time figuring out what type of bill I wanted to focus on, but once I settled on one of the bills, I eventually became more confident with my work. The more I wrote, the easier it is for me to visualize what I want my issue paper to look like. Even though it was extremely hard in the beginning, I preserved and completed my first draft of the issue paper. Looking back, I realized I have learned a lot in just 3 days . It was amazing to see my own progress, and I can’t wait to materialize my ideas and show my representative this week.
--
Submitted by: Julia Marquis
I enjoyed this experience so much partly because of the beach itself. Being from the eastern coast, it was interesting seeing the different qualities of the beaches that set them apart. Additionally, I enjoyed seeing what data collection is like for environmental scientists at Scripps. It was very satisfying to take data on the beach and then apply it to a hypothesis afterwards to get a result. Overall, the day on the beach was an incredible experience because I had the opportunity to learn more about the field of environmental science and data collection as well as being able to relax with my friends on the beach. I look forward to another exciting week in the GELS program.
--
Submitted by Megan Woelkers:
The past week went by very quickly, and now we are in Washington D.C.! ready to dive into the political side of climate change. Although I am looking forward to the new opportunities in Washington, I am also grateful for my experiences with the science behind global warming. One of the coolest moments in the past week, besides the pier, was the ice lab. The ice lab itself wasn’t large and filled with lots of technology, but the fact that they had ice there over four-hundred thousand years old was awesome! The ice is used to measure what type of gasses were in the atmosphere thousands of years ago, which can help make a comprehensive time scale of the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. It was really cold in the storage room for the ice, -25 degrees Celsius, so we had to wear a winter jacket and gloves. In the storage room, we held ice and looked at the cylinders used to cut the ice. After a few minutes though, my nose started to hurt and turn red, because it was slowly freezing up. My fingers and toes went next, and I slowly lost feeling in them. But the experience was over far too quickly! The ice lab has shown me the extremes of science, and what it takes to collect reliable data for experiments not easily conducted. I found it inspiring that science can be found all over the world, even in the most remote of places. Ice doesn’t seem important to many people, but now it is revealing the history of Earth’s climate, which will further help remedy global warming.
--
Submitted by: Shayna Hayden
Looking back over this past week, what I felt was really impactful to me was the special guest speaker, Sarah Wanous, from Citizens Climate Lobby. Sarah spoke to us about a bill known as HR763. This bill would implement an exponential carbon tax beginning at $15per metric ton, and increasing $10per metric ton annually.
The tax money would be returned to American individuals as a dividend and help boost the economy. Not only is this bill intriguing because it will reduce carbon emissions, but it also interests me because it will help better the economy and provide more jobs for Americans. I have always felt bipartisanship is necessary to have a functioning government, and that has been extremely evident through these last couple of years as American Citizens are becoming more and more divided. Nevertheless, I feel this bill will be the perfect step to achieving a bipartisan perspective on climate change and we can hopefully start to come together to push for a common goal, that being the success and prosperity of our country. Learning about this bill ultimately reaffirmed my stance that everyone wants to see our country succeed. Whether it be through a more liberal or a more conservative path, we all have the same common purpose.
--
Submitted by: Guadalupe Torres
Over the course of the week I have been exposed to many new experiences and people. I love learning about their stories and where they come from. I have made friends with people from different backgrounds and they have been helping me with presentation skills and have been respectful about my life story.
I am so thankful to be able to call them my friends. I know I will be upset when our last day of our trip comes, but I know thanks to technology we will always be connected.
--
Submitted by: Hannah Griswold
The most impactful activity from the past week at UCSD was the lecture from the CCL activist, Sarah Wanous. I had learned about a variety of carbon policies before, from carbon dividends to taxes and fees. It was incredibly valuable to learn about the specifics of a bill that includes the environmental policy strategies that I was educated on in school. Bill H.R.763 has given me hope that our government is finally making the effort to find policy solutions to climate change and implement them. After learning about this bill, I also feel empowered to share this solution with others while in this program. I plan to continue to share my knowledge on climate policy when I return to San Diego and lobby for my local government officials to endorse bill H.R.763.
--
Submitted by: Ashwin Rhodes
This past week has been a lot of fun, but the event with the most impact on me was the day we saw FLIP, (Floating Instrument Platform), one of the research vessels at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It was by far the coolest. FLIP can’t move on its own and even when it’s being tugged FLIP is slow and expensive, but FLIP really impacted me when we toured it to look at the design.
FLIP is designed as a mobile research station that gets towed out to sea and then flipped on end, which lets it sit stable in a column of water. Because FLIP has to flip, everything has to be designed to be used from two angles, rotated 90° from one another. As we walked we saw how the designers and engineers made a ship where the walls could also be floors and you could get around no matter which way it was facing. The beds are all suspended and rotate, and even the toilets work facing both ways. I love engineering and design so this was an amazing experience for me and really opened my eyes to what can be possible if you have a determined and dedicated group of people working on it.
LOOKING FORWARD
--
Submitted by: Dexter Lim
During the last week, I have learned more than I would have thought possible about the environment, lobbying, and policy, as well as meeting the incredible people in our group. However, despite the wealth of knowledge and unique experiences of the last seven days, I feel that there is even more to be seen and learned during our stay in D.C. In particular, I am looking forward to our visit to the national zoo tomorrow. This is largely in part due to the fact that I feel it will be a very fun way to get to know my fellow program members better.
The zoo environment will also be a nice reprieve from the hard work we have done over the last week, and I think it will be a very pleasant excursion especially in light of potentially stressful events later on such as meeting with our congressional representatives. Finally, I think that it will be a great way to introduce myself to Washington D.C. While I am somewhat apprehensive about walking such a sizeable area on my hurt ankle, I still have a walking stick to assist in taking weight off of it, and I feel that I will be quite enthralled with the sights I’ll see as well, which I think will offset most of the pain I may feel from walking. Overall, I am very excited to start the DC visit off with the zoo and I can’t wait to see what else will come of our time in the nation’s capital.
--
Submitted by: Robert Burch
Halfway through the Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability program, it has already been an amazing experience. We have done many hands on lessons and experiments while also developing our leadership skills with an amazing group of people. However, I still have a whole other week of learning, growing, and lobbying coming up in Washington D.C., and it looks like it is going to be the best part. I am particularly looking forward to my meetings with congresswomen and congressmen on The Hill where I will have the opportunity to lobby for more action on climate change and policies to fix this crisis. After lots of training, background information, and support from the GELS program, I know I will be very ready to have an interesting and productive conversation with my representative, Katie Porter. I am super excited for these meetings because they allow me to combine my passion for politics and eagerness to protect the environment from issues that will begin to affect my generation very soon. Action on climate change is necessary and must be taken soon, and there is no better place to spur this action than with the people who make the legislation and regulations about it. I am so grateful for my upcoming chance to take action and be a part of something bigger, and am definitely looking forward to it all!
--
Submitted by: David Zhu
As we go into the next week at Washington D.C. I am looking forward to meeting with the members from Congress, whether it is the representative from my district or one from another district, or a staff member. I am excited to meet and talk about something I am passionate about. I’ve met Judy Chu in my district before but I really want to be able to see her at the Capitol, especially with the rest of the students in the program and hopefully get to discuss the importance of climate change education. As we prepare for these meetings and engage ourselves in writing our papers, I start to think about the amount of change that I may not be able to make on Capitol Hill but instead the amount of change I can make on my own at home. I think of the people who are around me that I can take my passion and knowledge to, and spread awareness about climate change. I think from this experience, I will learn that change starts on both a large and a small scale.
As we shift our focus and time zone, and arrive in Washington DC, we have taken the time to think back on the best moments of the past week and the anticipation of what is to come. Here are the thoughts of the participants as they reflect and prepare for what lies ahead.
LOOKING BACK
--
Submitted by Audrey Dickenson:
One of my favorite activities from the past week was the crash course about public speaking on Tuesday. We worked in teams of five to address fluency, body language, and filler words. For each of these areas, we delivered one-minute speeches on randomly selected topics; at the end of the night, we evaluated overall quality in individual two-minute speeches to the entire group. I had an amazing time during this session because I’m rather opinionated and a natural storyteller. With my captive audience, I delivered hot takes on everything from childhood nightmares to the movie The Silence of the Lambs. When I received my evaluations from my longer speech on the Galaxy’s Edge park in Disneyland, I was honestly surprised that people liked my presentation so much. In school, I had always conceded that public speaking was my unavoidable weak point. Doing this public speaking boot camp proved that I am, in fact, capable of effective and coherent communication in front of a group! Of course, this will prove necessary when I meet with my Representative but I will carry this lesson with me for the rest of my life.--
Submitted by: Whitney Barnett
Thinking back to my preparation for this program, I was most excited for the DC leg of the trip and was slightly uncertain about the science aspect of the program, mostly because I have never considered myself a STEM-oriented learner. However, over these past few days, I was more engaged and interested in the subject matter we were discussing than I can ever remember being. I was a part of the Carbon Team with our research group, and what we learned and what we did sparked a passion for climatology, specifically ocean climatology, which I never knew existed.
One thing which significantly impacted my interest level and understanding of the subject matter is that we were in an authentic learning environment, meaning we all shared a common, genuine interest in the subject matter, which was not only validating, but also encouraging. Finally, I believe the supportive nature of not only the instructors, but also all the participants brought us together in a way which allowed us to thrive while learning.
--
Submitted by Chloe Haner:
Something I wanted to reflect on was when we went to the beach and quote on quote tried to collect data via a bucket, string, grapefruit, and a stopwatch. Doing those experiments was such a delight that I would do it again just for fun. It was also fun to have just a relaxing day at the beach to kind of wind down and really take in San Diego and its beauty. During boogie boarding I saw what appeared to be a sting ray in a wave and can only describe it as a moment in finding nemo where the turtles disappear after going down the current. July fourth had to have been my favorite day yet so far.
-- Submitted by: Peter Tangikyan
The first ever moment I was truly fascinated during the GELS program was the day we saw physical pieces of ice from Antarctica. This encounter was quite unusual, as it occurred in the most unconventional setting. Pounds of prehistoric Antarctic ice were disposed of outside the Scripps Institution of Oceanography because the scientists did not need those samples anymore. Just a typical day at Scripps... I was mesmerized looking at the millions of tiny gas bubbles within the glass-like, shiny, transparent ice. The piece of ice I was holding was probably over a thousand years old. These ice pieces are not only spectacular to look at, but they hold crucial information humans need to preserve Earth. Using ice samples, scientists are able to track CO2 levels in the gas bubbles, which in turn allows us to understand the composition of our atmosphere before recorded history. This information enables us to view the damage humans have caused in the world by their CO2 pollution, which hopefully inspires people to live more sustainable lives. It still awes me how an inanimate piece of Earth can tell us a story written centuries and maybe millenniums ago. I will forever remember this day because I was able to hold a unique piece of ice that had unrecorded history within it.
--
Submitted by: Cha Thompson
Looking Back...20,000 years
On the fourth day of this educational trip, we went to a very impactful place. As Maya and Jacob (Scripps scientists) had been talking about what they do at Scripps with the ice shelf and the ice, I got more and more fascinated by it. The more ice was talked about, the better understanding I got for it and that I want to (potentially) study the ice shelf as a career choice when I get older. I found it absolutely awe inspiring when Jacob took us into the freezer where they kept the ice because the ice holds so much information about the past in the layers and in the bubbles trapped in it. I knew scientists could track the amount of snowfall and dust each season by the layers in the ice. However, when Jacob mentioned the vacuum that sucks the bubbles out of the ice and can transform those molecules in the ice into a model of what the atmosphere was composed of, my mind was blown. I had no idea it was possible to transform bubbles trapped in the ice into data that showed the composition of the atmosphere. I am glad GELS gave me the opportunity to learn something new that might impact my future. And, to be honest, it was really cool holding ice that is 20,000 years old. If it wasn’t for Scripps, I would not have known about using the bubbles in ice and not known about what the atmosphere was composed of all those years ago.
--
Submitted by: Alex Huen
Looking back over the past week, I realized I have learned so much more than I expected originally. Not only did we learn about the basics of climate change, and how climate change will affect our environment, we were also exposed to methods that will make us a better and more confident speaker. Even though we were exposed to numerous amounts of topics, I was particularly excited about writing the issue paper, since it is a hands-on activity that prepares us for our meeting with the representatives. Compared to all the lectures, experiments, and activities we did for the past week, writing the issue paper was definitely more challenging. It requires extensive research when finding the right bill, critical thinking when we have to include all the information on one single page, and a lot of time to finalize our draft. At first, I was having a hard time figuring out what type of bill I wanted to focus on, but once I settled on one of the bills, I eventually became more confident with my work. The more I wrote, the easier it is for me to visualize what I want my issue paper to look like. Even though it was extremely hard in the beginning, I preserved and completed my first draft of the issue paper. Looking back, I realized I have learned a lot in just 3 days . It was amazing to see my own progress, and I can’t wait to materialize my ideas and show my representative this week.
--
Submitted by: Julia Marquis
Over the course of our 5 hour plane ride from San Diego to Washington D.C., I had the opportunity to reflect on the past week at the UCSD GELS program. We spent most of this past week working at Scripps Institution of Oceanography learning about the environment and how environmental science plays a role in today’s politics. One of the most notable parts of the week for me was learning about longshore currents and collecting data on La Jolla Beach. In the morning, we made predictions as to which way the current was heading and looked at the high tides and water temperature. After watching a video on the experiments we were going to be doing, we headed down to the beach.
I enjoyed this experience so much partly because of the beach itself. Being from the eastern coast, it was interesting seeing the different qualities of the beaches that set them apart. Additionally, I enjoyed seeing what data collection is like for environmental scientists at Scripps. It was very satisfying to take data on the beach and then apply it to a hypothesis afterwards to get a result. Overall, the day on the beach was an incredible experience because I had the opportunity to learn more about the field of environmental science and data collection as well as being able to relax with my friends on the beach. I look forward to another exciting week in the GELS program. --
Submitted by Megan Woelkers:
The past week went by very quickly, and now we are in Washington D.C.! ready to dive into the political side of climate change. Although I am looking forward to the new opportunities in Washington, I am also grateful for my experiences with the science behind global warming. One of the coolest moments in the past week, besides the pier, was the ice lab. The ice lab itself wasn’t large and filled with lots of technology, but the fact that they had ice there over four-hundred thousand years old was awesome! The ice is used to measure what type of gasses were in the atmosphere thousands of years ago, which can help make a comprehensive time scale of the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. It was really cold in the storage room for the ice, -25 degrees Celsius, so we had to wear a winter jacket and gloves. In the storage room, we held ice and looked at the cylinders used to cut the ice. After a few minutes though, my nose started to hurt and turn red, because it was slowly freezing up. My fingers and toes went next, and I slowly lost feeling in them. But the experience was over far too quickly! The ice lab has shown me the extremes of science, and what it takes to collect reliable data for experiments not easily conducted. I found it inspiring that science can be found all over the world, even in the most remote of places. Ice doesn’t seem important to many people, but now it is revealing the history of Earth’s climate, which will further help remedy global warming.--
Submitted by: Shayna Hayden
Looking back over this past week, what I felt was really impactful to me was the special guest speaker, Sarah Wanous, from Citizens Climate Lobby. Sarah spoke to us about a bill known as HR763. This bill would implement an exponential carbon tax beginning at $15per metric ton, and increasing $10per metric ton annually.
The tax money would be returned to American individuals as a dividend and help boost the economy. Not only is this bill intriguing because it will reduce carbon emissions, but it also interests me because it will help better the economy and provide more jobs for Americans. I have always felt bipartisanship is necessary to have a functioning government, and that has been extremely evident through these last couple of years as American Citizens are becoming more and more divided. Nevertheless, I feel this bill will be the perfect step to achieving a bipartisan perspective on climate change and we can hopefully start to come together to push for a common goal, that being the success and prosperity of our country. Learning about this bill ultimately reaffirmed my stance that everyone wants to see our country succeed. Whether it be through a more liberal or a more conservative path, we all have the same common purpose.--
Submitted by: Guadalupe Torres
Over the course of the week I have been exposed to many new experiences and people. I love learning about their stories and where they come from. I have made friends with people from different backgrounds and they have been helping me with presentation skills and have been respectful about my life story.I am so thankful to be able to call them my friends. I know I will be upset when our last day of our trip comes, but I know thanks to technology we will always be connected.
--
Submitted by: Hannah Griswold
The most impactful activity from the past week at UCSD was the lecture from the CCL activist, Sarah Wanous. I had learned about a variety of carbon policies before, from carbon dividends to taxes and fees. It was incredibly valuable to learn about the specifics of a bill that includes the environmental policy strategies that I was educated on in school. Bill H.R.763 has given me hope that our government is finally making the effort to find policy solutions to climate change and implement them. After learning about this bill, I also feel empowered to share this solution with others while in this program. I plan to continue to share my knowledge on climate policy when I return to San Diego and lobby for my local government officials to endorse bill H.R.763.--
Submitted by: Ashwin Rhodes
This past week has been a lot of fun, but the event with the most impact on me was the day we saw FLIP, (Floating Instrument Platform), one of the research vessels at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It was by far the coolest. FLIP can’t move on its own and even when it’s being tugged FLIP is slow and expensive, but FLIP really impacted me when we toured it to look at the design.
FLIP is designed as a mobile research station that gets towed out to sea and then flipped on end, which lets it sit stable in a column of water. Because FLIP has to flip, everything has to be designed to be used from two angles, rotated 90° from one another. As we walked we saw how the designers and engineers made a ship where the walls could also be floors and you could get around no matter which way it was facing. The beds are all suspended and rotate, and even the toilets work facing both ways. I love engineering and design so this was an amazing experience for me and really opened my eyes to what can be possible if you have a determined and dedicated group of people working on it.
LOOKING FORWARD
--
Submitted by: Dexter Lim
During the last week, I have learned more than I would have thought possible about the environment, lobbying, and policy, as well as meeting the incredible people in our group. However, despite the wealth of knowledge and unique experiences of the last seven days, I feel that there is even more to be seen and learned during our stay in D.C. In particular, I am looking forward to our visit to the national zoo tomorrow. This is largely in part due to the fact that I feel it will be a very fun way to get to know my fellow program members better.
The zoo environment will also be a nice reprieve from the hard work we have done over the last week, and I think it will be a very pleasant excursion especially in light of potentially stressful events later on such as meeting with our congressional representatives. Finally, I think that it will be a great way to introduce myself to Washington D.C. While I am somewhat apprehensive about walking such a sizeable area on my hurt ankle, I still have a walking stick to assist in taking weight off of it, and I feel that I will be quite enthralled with the sights I’ll see as well, which I think will offset most of the pain I may feel from walking. Overall, I am very excited to start the DC visit off with the zoo and I can’t wait to see what else will come of our time in the nation’s capital.
--
Submitted by: Robert Burch
Halfway through the Global Environmental Leadership and Sustainability program, it has already been an amazing experience. We have done many hands on lessons and experiments while also developing our leadership skills with an amazing group of people. However, I still have a whole other week of learning, growing, and lobbying coming up in Washington D.C., and it looks like it is going to be the best part. I am particularly looking forward to my meetings with congresswomen and congressmen on The Hill where I will have the opportunity to lobby for more action on climate change and policies to fix this crisis. After lots of training, background information, and support from the GELS program, I know I will be very ready to have an interesting and productive conversation with my representative, Katie Porter. I am super excited for these meetings because they allow me to combine my passion for politics and eagerness to protect the environment from issues that will begin to affect my generation very soon. Action on climate change is necessary and must be taken soon, and there is no better place to spur this action than with the people who make the legislation and regulations about it. I am so grateful for my upcoming chance to take action and be a part of something bigger, and am definitely looking forward to it all!
--
Submitted by: David Zhu
As we go into the next week at Washington D.C. I am looking forward to meeting with the members from Congress, whether it is the representative from my district or one from another district, or a staff member. I am excited to meet and talk about something I am passionate about. I’ve met Judy Chu in my district before but I really want to be able to see her at the Capitol, especially with the rest of the students in the program and hopefully get to discuss the importance of climate change education. As we prepare for these meetings and engage ourselves in writing our papers, I start to think about the amount of change that I may not be able to make on Capitol Hill but instead the amount of change I can make on my own at home. I think of the people who are around me that I can take my passion and knowledge to, and spread awareness about climate change. I think from this experience, I will learn that change starts on both a large and a small scale.
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