My Two Birds by Marlene

My Two Birds by Marlene - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Ever since I can remember, I cared for the world around me. Growing up in a town filled with nature, I was constantly learning about the environment and the living things that are dependent on it. However, I especially became interested in environmental preservation after developing a love for birds, which began after getting two small pet birds, during my freshman year of high school. I immediately became interested in learning more about them, which then led to me being interested in environmental issues, and the ways human impacts could be detrimental to other living things.

Throughout my high school experience, I constantly explored different career fields, from finance to health science, and it wasn’t until taking AP Environmental Science, that I knew I had found something that I could truly be interested and passionate about for the rest of my career. Through that course, my interest in the environment was further enhanced. I was able to learn about endangered species, including birds, and the way many of them eventually became extinct, due to lack of stable habitats or resources, which made me significantly more aware of the negative effects that humans could have on the environment, if current ways of life didn’t change.

In my free time, I would constantly research climate change issues, environmental policies, political debates, and technology intended to lessen permanent damage to our planet. And while I was hopeful that humanity as a whole could work collectively to decrease irreversible damage inflicted on our planet, I had never considered the possibility of being able to contribute to the environment’s conservation. It wasn’t until having to decide on a major that I would pursue after high school that I considered environmental engineering, since it would interconnect my love for birds and concern for the environment, while continuing to challenge me through the innovative and problem-solving aspects of the career. Although I was initially intimidated by the career field, I later was positive that my constant interest and concern for the environment would be a persistent motivation to pursue a career in environmental engineering.

Ultimately, my interest in pursuing studies in environmental engineering rooted from my two pet birds, because they not only showed me the wonderful aspects of nature, but also that we as humans have the ability to save the environment that we and other living things rely on. This then makes me certain that by using my current skills, and the knowledge I will obtain throughout university, that I will be able to contribute to the overall effort in preserving the environment, and achieve my long term goal of taking part in helping our planet’s overall wellbeing.