I am a high school senior from Lake Oswego, Oregon. I have been an Oregon zoo volunteer for three years and have served around 900 hours. The large majority of my hours are spent mentoring and guiding other teens at the family farm as either an animal care specialist or middle manager. Every other weekend I assist keepers in the Oregon Zoo's renowned elephant breeding program, cleaning the barn, abiding by strict safety conditions, and immersing myself in learning about these amazing creatures.
Outside of my zoo work, I have completed an epidemiological study of teenage hookah use, which I entered in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Program. I am a sufferer of a traumatic brain injury and I work to raise awareness about the plight of brain-injured students in local schools by educating teachers and administrators across my state. After I graduate high school next year I hope to pursue a career as an epidemiologist at a research-based university.
My expectations for the PBI teen camp have been formed by the several encounters I have had with the former ambassadors from the Oregon Zoo. Over the years I have watched these amazing young women speak about their experiences and now I feel honored to be among their ranks. Although I know I will emerge with an infinite amount of polar bear knowledge, stories about my own sightings of them, and of course a desire to change the world, these will not be the sole gains from the camp. PBI’s teen leadership camp is such a unique opportunity because of its multi-faceted approach to tackling the issue of climate change in the wild. Within this approach I expect to learn how to investigate a problem in context, taking into account local culture, environmental factors, and the attitudes of people worldwide.
I cannot predict the future course of climate change, five minutes from now or five years. However, I can predict the effect of my influence in my local community and zoo. I have learned through my fight to bring awareness to brain injury that the best way to educate and inspire someone is by telling them my story. The story I will return from the arctic with is powerful; it’s the story of an animal’s struggle against a shrinking habitat, a condition the human race, has afflicted upon them. Polar bears are archetypes for strength, purity, and now, paradoxically, vulnerability. With each retelling of the story, more and more people will change their behavior, turning the tide for the polar bears. In five years, the world will be a more open and encouraging to all types of change and stories.
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