Please provide an essay regarding your educational focus, motivations for pursuing environmental studies, experience showing commitment to the environmental field and future goals (approximately 500 words).
Henry David Thoreau said that "We can never have enough of nature." This is, without a doubt, true. Humanity needs the environment, as much for survival as for enjoyment and wonder. However, I would flip the statement and say: "Nature has had too much of man." We have cut down, burned, plundered, and bulldozed our environment to the point where only pockets of wilderness remain. The implications of this go far beyond the immeasurable beauty that has been lost. Our planet is in a state of imbalance, and if we are not careful, the scales will be tipped past the point of no return. I believe that it is now our responsibility, as members of Earth's ecosystem, to repair the damage we have caused.
It is much easier to say that we need to do something than it is to actually do it. I want to help protect and restore the environment, but as a high school student, I lack the education and the resources necessary to truly make a difference. In the long run, I hope to earn a PhD in biology or a related field, and use my degree and education to do research related to environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and ever-shrinking biodiversity. On the other hand, it is hard to understand where help is most needed after only living in Brookline MA, and I plan on participating in a gap year program next year in order to experience these issues firsthand. I feel that if I do this, I will get a better understanding of how I should focus my education in order to find a passion which I can use in correlation with environmental fields.
Henry David Thoreau said that "We can never have enough of nature." This is, without a doubt, true. Humanity needs the environment, as much for survival as for enjoyment and wonder. However, I would flip the statement and say: "Nature has had too much of man." We have cut down, burned, plundered, and bulldozed our environment to the point where only pockets of wilderness remain. The implications of this go far beyond the immeasurable beauty that has been lost. Our planet is in a state of imbalance, and if we are not careful, the scales will be tipped past the point of no return. I believe that it is now our responsibility, as members of Earth's ecosystem, to repair the damage we have caused.
It is much easier to say that we need to do something than it is to actually do it. I want to help protect and restore the environment, but as a high school student, I lack the education and the resources necessary to truly make a difference. In the long run, I hope to earn a PhD in biology or a related field, and use my degree and education to do research related to environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and ever-shrinking biodiversity. On the other hand, it is hard to understand where help is most needed after only living in Brookline MA, and I plan on participating in a gap year program next year in order to experience these issues firsthand. I feel that if I do this, I will get a better understanding of how I should focus my education in order to find a passion which I can use in correlation with environmental fields.