Welcome Anna, tell us a little about yourself:

 

The first time I felt a strong affinity to nature was when I went on my first trip to Big Bend National Park. I loved all of the scenery and the experiences I gained as I hiked with my 8th Grade classmates through trails such as Windows, South Rim, and Chisos Basin. I loved the feeling of freedom and fresh air as I hiked the trails, and the views were always worth the strenuous journey there. Also, in a natural setting, I realized how much you can learn about your own identity through reflection and bonding with others that you never had interacted with before. When my grade was with me immersed in nature, having to help each other and collaborate when hiking up hills and peaks, we all seemed unified and one. I think that experiencing nature and getting away from more urban atmospheres is very important because it allows us humans to realize that we are all extremely similar. We all can enjoy the bright blanket of stars stretched across the ink black sky and revel in the beauty of the constellations.  Despite differences in interest and character, we all are equal and inhabit the same planet. Therefore, we need to learn how to work together to protect it.

 

Yet, the main event that I look back on when I truly embraced my love for nature is when I visited Big Bend again last year and hiked up Emory Peak. It was a long and arduous hike, mostly uphill and extremely cold when we finally arrived at the top. Although, there is a “top” of the mountain and a “tippy top” of the mountain, and in order to reach the “tippy top” it involves scaling the rock. I was quite nervous to do this, especially because the wind was extremely strong, and my hands were already numb. When I reached the top, though, I had never felt so connected with where I was at the moment and enjoying being alive. The sun was bright and I could see for miles in every direction. I opened my arms up to the sky, and breathed in. At that point, I knew I could accomplish anything I wanted to in life if I put my mind to it. I felt superior to all of my previous worries and anxieties about school or college and understanding that moments like this one was what was really important and amazing about life.

 

I recently went on a hike in Little Thicket Nature Sanctuary lead by Brandt Mannchen. I was motivated to participate because I was volunteering to take pictures for the Sierra Club. I truly loved learning about different trees and plants. I realized there was more to trees than I knew, and that they even actively communicate with and help each other. Also, I really loved walking through one of the few areas in Texas that was not altered by humans and had the most native and natural wildlife in the area. This was my first Sierra Club event and it opened up a whole world of knowledge and learning about the natural world that I never considered before.

 

This is a harder question for me because I am so new to Sierra Club, but I would love to take part in more service projects with the club, such as trail maintenance and invasive species removal within nature sanctuaries and parks in Texas. Also, after all the protests on gun reform throughout the nation, I would love to participate in a march or walkout advocating legislation for climate change, because that is a problem that will affect generations of people and wildlife after we are gone.

 

My environmental message for young people would be to put yourself out there and act on protecting the environment right away even if it seems like no one else is doing it. Take an active stance in learning more about climate change and what you can do to help diminish its effects, and become a part of the community that wants to help protect the world we live in. We, as the young generation, are the ones that will live the effects of the mistakes our ancestors have made, and we are the ones that have the ability to improve the situation. Eventually, our generation will be the leaders of the globe, and if we start learning about and standing up for what we believe believe in now, we will be unstoppable then.