I feel as if I have grown up with Global Warming like it was a sibling of mine. It was always an issue in my household. My mother used to write for an environmental newsletter and my dad is a scientist with an expertise in the issue, so climate change was perpetually discussed. In fact, they talked about it so much that when I was young I thought it was something good. I did not really understand its detrimental consequences until later in life. Because it was always coming up, the term lost its meaning. I did not care about the issue and when people asked me if I would become an environmentalist like my father I would look at them like they were crazy, “Me, an environmentalist?!”

The summer after 10th grade I went on a trip to the Galapagos with a teen program. We were involved in community service on the islands, by cleaning up beaches and weeding out invasive plants. During the trip, I could tell that many people who live in the Galapagos appreciated our efforts. They needed help in preserving a place that is extremely precious and vital to them, and unique. This is when a yearning to conserve became ingrained in me. The next school year, I became active in my school’s Environment Committee. I no longer felt as though the environment was some distant concept that I was obligated to be concerned about, but instead a cause that actually was important to me. The next summer, I went on an Arctic exploration, cruising past islands with polar bears and other Arctic wildlife. The experience was literally otherworldly. I found myself wishing that I could bring everyone I had come across who shrugged at the effects of global warming to the Arctic and prove to them that this is a cause worth fighting for. The spectacular ice and exotic animals are not going to survive much longer if we do not take a more aggressive role in curbing climate change.

This year, I am co-head of my school’s Environment Committee. I organize many initiatives like the school-wide compact fluorescent light bulb sale. We are in the process of publishing an environmental newsletter. Now when people ask me if I want to be an environmentalist like my father I no longer scoff at the idea. I know that no matter what I do, I will always have a concern for the environment and a desire to preserve it. It took nearly 17 years to wake up and realize the importance of what Rachel Carson once said: “One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, ‘What if I have never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’” Because unless we take action we may not.