Scholarship Essay Entry – Renatta B.
I believe that every person’s personal life story is their own fairytale. Every gift, every beautiful moment, and every little miracle that a person experiences in their own story is extraordinarily magical in its own un-extraordinary way. The saying “the world is my playground” is quite significant in my life. I grew up in a beautiful place called “Dutch Valley”, British Columbia, where nature, and all of its wonder, literally awaited me outside my door. Behind my house, and about five feet from our backyard garden was the creek where my sister and I spent our childhoods swimming, building forts, fishing for minnows, and digging in clay. My home was my own paradise. It never mattered that we didn’t have money to go to the mall; it didn’t occur to us that we were poor or unfashionably dressed. The world was truly our playground…and so we were able to enjoy it, and we needed nothing more.
Growing up with simple things gave me the ability to respect and love the simplicity and beauty of the world I was given to live in. I could never ask for a better childhood than the one I was blessed with. Because of it, I have developed a strong sense of care and affection for nature: for the creeks; for the plants; and for the oceans. This is why it really hits home when I see and hear all around me, that the environment is struggling. It hurts to know that a strain is being put on everything that I love and am connected to. I can’t bare to think that, someday in the future, there may be a time when children won’t be able to experience the world as I did.
My current hometown, of Dewberry, Alberta, has taught me even more about the importance of a healthy environment. Not only is it essential for medicinal and health reasons, as well as for adventure: it also plays an enormous role in the economy. Just try and picture an Alberta without healthy crops and fields to live off of. It is an all too real possibility…that I plan on trying to prevent.
I am enrolled to become an environmental scientist, and I will use every gift I have ever been given to help my world. I only hope to become someone who can encourage others to make a change, by making a change myself. If I can help it, in any small way, I want to ensure that a childhood, like mine, can be enjoyed by many more in the future; it’s my own way of saying thank you.
It would be infinitely wrong for humans to continue on harming the earth, especially considering the fact that we are no longer ignorant of the effects our lifestyles have. I aspire to be apart of a huge world change. I know that with some hard work and my powerful drive, in combination with the love I have for nature…I can be apart of that change.
