One of the highlights of my high school career was working on my senior capstone project which focused on the question: What are effective strategies to empower youth to become environmental leaders? This is work I plan to continue throughout my college experience at Colorado College and beyond. I plan to major in environmental science and education and work with the outdoor education program and youth mentor organizations on campus! This field has been a passion for me for a few years now, and really sparked in my role as a camp counselor a few summers ago, where I had the opportunity to lead backpacking trips and teach classes like water walking, which had an emphasis on teaching kids about how they can practice stewardship and develop sense of place in the world around them. This is the moment in time that I realized exactly how much love I have from environmental education and practicing stewardship efforts in my personal life while inspiring others to implement these efforts in their lives as well. 

Receiving the Grossman Scholarship was a huge help when paying for college. With my passion to educate people, I need to begin by educating myself and being able to attend a great school is a huge opportunity that VOC really helped with. I am so grateful to be able to have the Grossman Scholarship as well as have connections to a great organization that values the same things as I do. With this education, I will be able to do meaningful work and make an impact on others’ lives and the Grossman Scholarship has been a major help in my journey in doing so.