During the Governor’s Page Program, I was able to gain valuable insight into the various branches of the government and explore the field of policy. I toured the different departments of the NC government, met state officials, and saw archives and libraries I would not have been able to otherwise. In my week, I bonded with like minded students and made several friends and connections. Every student in my cohort was interested in something different - there was a large diversity of thought, from students interested in aeronautical engineering to art. I learned how different departments and ideas need to come together to create a single policy. Every one of my peers brought something new to the table. As the week progressed I focused my policy around mass public transportation because it covered my interest in two of my favorite departments - the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality. At the end of the week, I presented a policy about using more mass public transportation in rural/urban areas and widening lanes for bicycle riders. The aim of this policy was to strengthen transit connectivity and provide more transportation options for smaller counties, while also reducing carbon emissions from gasoline powered cars. The highlight of my week was meeting Governor Roy Cooper, who encouraged all of us to work to make a difference in the government. Overall, the Governor’s Page program was a valuable, eye opening, and enjoyable experience that I am grateful to have done.

I began planning for this project on March 4th. As a part of this project, I wanted to educate students at the local refugee center on the environment, climate change, sustainability, recycling and composting. I worked with the local organization Refugee Hope Partners, which provides academic assistance to students from elementary to high school level in all subjects. I regularly volunteer to help students at this organization. I focused mainly on giving presentations to middle school students and helped them make posters to take home to their families. I scheduled the event for May 23rd after coordinating with members of the organization. These posters talked about climate change, recycling and composting so that every child could implement these changes in their home. I created the slideshow, planned the activities, and helped them make posters. I was not allowed to take pictures with the students in the organization for safety reasons but I do have a picture of me giving the presentation which I have attached here.

During this project, I gave a presentation to the children in the middle school group about causes and effects of climate change and ways to mitigate them. There were about twenty children and a few supervisors. The children were interactive during the presentation and asked several questions, even expressing interest in pursuing an environmental career in the future. At the end of the presentation, every student made a poster about what they have learned. To this post, I am attaching a picture of the poster one of the students made about recycling.

Following my presentation, all of the middle schoolers were incredibly grateful and asked for more information. Some expressed interest in doing something in environmental science in the future, and everybody had fun creating posters about environmental science to show their families. While I was teaching them about recycling, the kids mentioned to me that they did not have a recycling bin in their apartment complex, and they did not look for it in schools. We brainstormed various locations for recycling, and one kid even suggested having a trash collecting contest. Overall, there was a ripple effect from the enthusiasm because all of the kids made sure to spread the message about what they had learned to their community. The students also wished to tell their schools about what they had learned, and join more environmental clubs in the future. All of them were interested in the presentation and wanted to learn more about the topic for the future. Attached to this post is a picture of some of the posters created after the presentation.