This summer has been a whirlwind! I've had the immense pleasure to work with change makers from coast to coast. From my neighboring community of Salinas, California, I was able to work with my Girl Scout sisters to achieve their Girl Scout Silver Award. The Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn by being a leader who is organized, determined, and dedicated to improving their community. The Silver Award is the step before attaining the Gold Award - an award that has allowed me to go to college and pursue my educational dreams through scholarships. My Girl Scout sisters set out to teach their peers in their local community on how they can do their part to help the environment. Not only were their presentations inspiring, but it also showed their teachers, parents, community members, and even themselves that they could make a change regardless of young age.
On the other side of the country, I met up with my fellow Delta Green Up Youth Advisory Board members to voice our hopes for the future. We had the chance to tour the facilities at the Delta world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to Delta Airlines for connecting me with such fantastic youth and newfound friends, as well as providing us a platform to make a change within the airline industry.
Another opportunity I had this summer was to attend the Ocean Heroes Bootcamp in Vancouver, Canada. Lonely Whale and Captain Planet kindly invited me to be a squad leader to amazing youth from all over the world. I had the honor of being one of the Seahorse Squad leaders alongside, my friend, Hannah Testa from Hannah for Change. With over 300 Ocean Heroes from 20 different countries attending, I have great optimism for our ocean and planet.
For all of you emailing me about 2019's No Straw November, I have the patches! This year's No Straw November is a "Reminder to Love the Ocean and Planet" and a portion of the patch proceeds will go to Diane Wilson who heads up the San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper coalition group in Texas. Diane and fellow concerned citizens are fighting to keep Formosa chemical company to stop the discharge of plastic powder and pellets into Texas bays and also to restore their ecosystem back to a healthy environment.
As I finish writing my blog, I will be starting my new educational journey - college. I am beyond excited to be attending UC Berkeley to study Society and Environment in the College of Natural Resources. A big thank you to everyone who made this summer unforgettable and everyone who has supported my journey thus far. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are all making waves 🌊🌊🌊
GO BEARS!
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