A Farewell Post

Posted On January 27, 2025

With the new year underway, I want to share some updates with all of you. The first half of my senior year has been hectic. On top of regular college class coursework and performing at the theater, I was also busy putting college applications together. I spent hours drafting my essays to display who I am and where I want to go in my future. On December 6th, I learned that I was accepted to my dream school, Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in aerospace engineering!

I have always had a passion for finding the missing puzzle pieces in life. From an early age, I loved solving math equations and discovering where I went wrong along the way. I have always had an engineering mindset, but just as importantly, my conservation projects have influenced my career choice. Over the years, I have moved to create change on a local level. My projects have created a better community and helped many organizations across Georgia. Now, I have the chance to make change on a broader scale.

My exploration into climate change and plastic pollution have shown me how these big issues are very multidimensional. It takes many people working together on a wide range of solutions to reduce our emissions and better our environment. My projects have included education, advocacy, cleanups, and fundraising; now, I want to help create technological solutions to tackle issues from another angle. Significant contributors to climate change are harmful emissions that come from vehicles, specifically planes and spacecraft. I love to travel, and I am fascinated with space flight, so it bothers me that these things I enjoy are so harmful to our environment. This is why I want to develop technologies to make air and space travel more efficient and less costly to our planet. At Georgia Tech, I hope to explore better fuel alternatives and make more aerodynamic planes. In this way, I can be a part of the reduction in our global emissions.

Regrettably, this means I must soon say farewell to my Earth Inspired Kids website. My first “Trash for Turtles” project began in 2013, and just a couple of years later, I started this environmental kids blog. I have grown up an environmental steward and have shared most of my journey with you on this website. Graduating high school and turning eighteen this year marks the start of new adventures into adulthood. Although it is a bittersweet goodbye, I am excited about what lies ahead in my future.

Before I go, here’s a summary of all we’ve accomplished together over the years and how it has influenced my future. I couldn’t have done it without the support of so many people like you! Thank you for believing in and supporting me.

My inspiration: A green sea turtle named Mahi which had its right flipper amputated due to injuries from fishing line
My first project: Trash for Turtles (2013-2022)
Other projects: Sixteen Candles for Sea Turtles (2023) and $25 for 2025 (2024)
Total fundraised: $12,200
- Fundraising products designed or co-designed by me: notecards, reusable grocery bags, two t-shirts, and bracelets
- Other fundraisers: book-a-thon, trash-a-thon, authored children’s book “Threatened Animals from A to Z”
Organizations and projects supported: Georgia Sea Turtle Center (2013-2017), Caretta Research Project (2019-current), Jacksonville University’s Little St Simons Island Lemon Shark Study (2019-2020), Georgia DNR Sea Turtle Conservation Project (2018), Satilla Riverkeeper (2018, 2024), and St Simons Island Sea Turtle Project (2018).
Total amount of aluminum cans recycled: 3,680 lbs
Total number of clean-ups: 69
Community petitions: 1
Documentaries and video stories: What’s for Breakfast and One Hundred Miles’ “Our Georgia Coast”