When I came across this scholarship opportunity, I was very excited to speak about how much I have learned about climate change by taking a climate change focused course in my first year of college. As a college freshman, I decided to take a class titled “Interpretation to creative non-fiction: True Stories of Climate Change! ” or LIT 2070 for short. My professor, Stephanie Anderson, shared that this course was designed to be focused on climate change because while it was a required general education credit in the humanities section, it also gave students a chance to both succeed in interpreting and writing literature and becoming more aware of climate change impacts. Not only was I interested in learning more, I was extremely impressed that colleges were finding ways to share how climate change is impacting our lives. I feel that it is especially important that we as students were given a chance to learn about how we’re affected because we are the future generation of adults that can make a difference on our planet.
As I was navigating this course, I read many articles, books, and analysis that questioned and answered the climate change and global warming crisis. One of the essays I read that I found the most intriguing was “Maple Nation” A Citizenship Guide”. This essay speaks about how much nature helps the community daily, and talks about climate change through political and civic aspects. Another one of my favorites was a book titled “Braiding Sweetgrass'' by Robin Kimmerer. This book targets the relationship of humans and the land with a focus of indigenous culture. It talks about how we need to care for nature just like nature has cared for us. Kimmerer gives an interesting perspective on how we can navigate climate change and make changes that will create a more sustainable environment. One of the main takeaways from this book that I loved is that I learned to protect the future of our earth, our generation and the next generation needs to start learning about the differences they can make.
Now that I’ve shared some of my favorite parts of taking this LIT 2070 course, I will now explain further other ways my university and college have taken an approach on adding climate change to the course curriculum. My school also shares news articles and research conducted by research students that is in relation to climate change. These news articles are shared with all students and staff, they go in detail of the different climate related policies and the different views. The director of the school's center for environmental studies also shared his knowledge on the issue. Colin Polsky, Ph.D., shared that the real environmental issues that are occurring are shaped negatively because we are at a time where most individuals' concerns are about the coronavirus pandemic.
My school has also initiated a program called “Ecology, Environment, & Resilience Initiative” where students, staff, and faculty work for better education and research in environmental science, more specifically climate change. Many professors at FAU publicly share how we can advance as a community to work on climate change, for example, Professor Anthony Abate at FAU conducted an interview about the business of climate change and how big business affects climate change over the years. He continues on by sharing how he implements core ideas about sustainability to his students and shares that it is important to think about ethics when it comes to how what they are doing will affect not only them but the earth.
In conclusion, as a student that is part of the Charles E. Schmidt college of science department, I have seen my school include the important issue of climate change into the curriculum in many ways. I saw this change firstly taking a climate change focused literary analysis class. My school has also added the issue of climate change through the news web page and sharing interviews and more information from our own researchers and professors. It’s very important and encouraging to see my peers, faculty, and staff all concerned about being educated when it comes to climate change. It is not only allowing us to learn how we can make a difference but it is creating many career opportunities. This makes me excited for the fact that we can work toward sustainability and try our best to preserve earth's resources and protect the climate to the best of our ability.
US Premium Health Scholarship ' June 30 2022 Winner Essay
Name: Eve-Sarah Augustin
Study:Entry level Nursing: BSN
College: Nova Southeastern University
