I have been granted the opportunity to study abroad in Costa Rica this summer, and I am so excited! I am currently doing everything I can to be able to pay for this amazing experience, but I will most likely not be able to earn enough all on my own. In addition to applying for aid, grants, and scholarships, I am reaching out to you all, my friends and family, for some additional help! Anything you can offer goes a long way and means the world to me. This program in Costa Rica will expose me to concepts, experiences, and scientific issues I would not see while simply remaining at a university in California.

I currently attend California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where my major is Environmental Management and Protection. I am truly passionate about this major because it is geared toward sustainably managing and using resources as well as discovering new methods to prevent negative anthropogenic impacts on the environment. In order to tailor my major to something unique and specific to what I want to accomplish in my life, I have added a biology minor. This will supplement the knowledge I am gaining about the environment and help me in graduate school where I plan to get a master’s degree in conservation biology. 

In addition to working to earn money, I also do a lot of volunteer work. Recently, I got the chance to volunteer with The Marine Mammal Center in Morro Bay. This was a life changing experience; rescuing shark-bitten sea lions and tube-feeding malnourished elephant seals gave me a newfound love of the natural world. I realized that I want to work with and save animals. In Costa Rica I will learn more about ecology and gain a broader understanding of how I can help conserve the amazing animals (and millions of other species) we have on earth. 

The study abroad program I am hoping to attend will provide me with 15 quarter units and the opportunity to conduct my own research in the Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. For more information on the program and what it consists of, please refer to this link, https://www.ciee.org/go-abroad/college-study-abroad/programs/costa-rica/monteverde/summer-tropical-ecology-conservation.

My career goal is to use my strong leadership skills and innovative ideas to conduct research, advocate for environmental regulations and policies, lead programs to rejuvenate endangered species, and educate the next generation about the natural world and how humans impact it. This program (and you!) can help me achieve this!

Thank you so much for reading this and/or donating, I really appreciate it.