Erin HillERM 4132/8/15

This I Believe

“Treat others the way you would want them to treat you”. While I was growing up this phrase known as the golden rule was something that my mom always repeated to me and hung as a magnet on our fridge. What seemed at first to be the most mundane saying has ultimately shaped who I am and how I live my life. In life I try to be kind, friendly and understanding when interacting with people I know and even people I meet for the first time. In return this is how I would want them to treat me.

When I think more about the golden rule I realize it has led me to the environmental science field. I strongly believe we should treat the earth the way we would want the earth to treat us. The earth provides us with so much, so we in return should respect it and protect all that it offers us. Think about it, if you treat people unkindly they will most likely treat you unkindly too. So if we treat the earth poorly and don’t take care of it we may suffer the negative consequences. Therefore we must do our very best to protect and sustain our earth.

I grew up learning to enjoy all life has to offer. This was the experiences, the people around me and the beauty that nature provides. Growing up I always enjoyed playing outside, exploring the neighborhood, and I was amazed at the wonder my surroundings brought. In school I gravitated towards the sciences to explore and further understand the earth. Just how important our impact on the environment and the role I could play in protecting our earth didn’t occur to me until I was in high school in my AP Biology class and the BP oil spill happened. I remember we stopped regular class and really dove into the case and discussed things such as impacts, stakeholders, and our dependence on oil. It was the first time I heard the word stakeholders and this case really exemplified how the environment affects people, habitats, organisms and even society, and it illustrated the vast ecosystem services the earth provides. This current event made all that I had learned previously seem so much more real and relevant. It proved just how reliant on and connected to the environment we really are. Therefore we should always treat the earth the way we want it to treat us.

After this realization and my strong tie to the golden rule, I discovered my path towards a field in environmental science and sustainability. This life on earth is such a wonderful and beautiful thing and I believe that we must respect and protect it. It’s our earth, we only get one, we breath its air, drink its water and use its resources. We expect a lot form our earth and we take the best from it without even realizing. It provides so much for us, we owe it to the earth to do our very best to keep in clean and bright in order to sustain the resources and marvel at the beauty it generously give us.