I had the opportunity to collaborate with my local library for my education event, in which I read stories about littering and completed related crafts with children 5 and under. By doing this, I was able to learn that a love of community and a willingness to help it can be taught at a young age, and anyone who is willing to, can make a difference!

Hosting a cleanup event offered valuable insight not just in the physical condition of the community, but the people, systems, and social demographics within it. It was also a great exercise in networking and collaborating with other organizations with a common goal. I really enjoyed seeing individuals from a variety of backgrounds come together to achieve the mission of keeping Pennsylvania beautiful. Organizing the event did present challenges, however I believe this promoted development in aspects such as communication and advertising.

I was able to get a lot of good advice from the Keep America Beautiful conference, both about real life (college/school advice) and with continuing a career in environmental conservation. I was able to see successful people in career positions I didn’t know existed that I could include on my own list of "what should I be when I grow up." I’m also invited to speak at the nature themed school orchestra concert in late May, which I never would have been offered without building connections within my school to promote my education/clean up events.

The education event training helped me because it really showed what to do with age demographics. With my educational lessons I planned on going to the audience of 2nd-3rd graders but realized I needed to go higher in age and settled with the 5th grade students.

The meeting about career networking was my favorite meeting to attend. Every speaker really brought their best forward and created a good space for questions. This is a meeting where I realized the importance of connections. I have heard people say small friends in big places and I now fully grasp that saying. In my opinion, it will take a lot of small friends to reach an environmental eutopia, but we will get there. As long as we keep moving so will the wind powered turbines!

The Community Assessment meeting was really eye-opening for me. When we talked about getting to the root of environmental issues, I found it interesting and agreed that we first must understand why a problem exists before we attempt to find solutions for it. I think so often we want to believe that big-scale changes can happen quickly, but the truth of it is that it takes time and great effort, and it also takes being able to communicate effectively and show empathy. These are important lessons in really any facet of life.

The meeting on Policy and Practice was very insightful to me. The professionals who presented made me feel I can make a difference in my community. Recycling was discussed a lot as well as ways to implement a system at school. The specific suggestions highlighted different ways I can make a difference in my community.

When ever I feel lost, I put my trust in nature as it guides us to find our purpose. With my year as KPB Ambassador, I felt one step closer to understanding myself and my relationship with everything around me. If anything, I want to continue to fight for the environment as it has always provided me with a safe space.

I was really inspired by all the different types of speakers and the variety in their careers. They gave a lot of perspective on how there are a plethora of different ways to bring conservation efforts into our lives and eventually our careers!

My favorite session was the meeting with Keep Texas Beautiful, because I felt very proud to represent Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, but I also felt that I was a part of a community of students with diverse beliefs and backgrounds that all have a great desire to improve and beautify their community and environment.

The clean up event taught me a lot. When brainstorming with my friends how and where we specifically wanted to do our clean up event, I realized how much our region had been affected by littering. From parks to neighborhoods, all of us had an idea for a place that could use some help. This showed me that every clean up, from one piece to a million, is crucial. After the event, I personally felt more motivated to change my own lifestyle to positively affect my environment’s condition. Seeing the amount of trash demonstrated to me how much of an affect people have. Even if we do not venture into nature ourselves, the plastic bottles we toss out, snack wrappers we tear off, and fast food bags we want to get rid of do.