Fresh Perspectives with Daniel

Transcript

Let’s turn it over to Daniel, a sophomore sustainable energy management major. Daniel’s life experiences from exploring Ecuador’s diverse landscapes to adapting to a new culture in the US, fueled his passion for environmentalism and let him to ESF where he’s helped create new communities. Daniel, please share your story. Take it away.

– Thank you for that introduction, Alex. My passion for environmentalism began during my childhood in Ecuador. Where I explored a diversity of landscapes. At 11, I moved to the US, which meant adapting a new language and way of perceiving the world. Although I was far away from my home country, I found solace and a continued love for nature through fish keeping In fish keeping, I found a community and an understanding of the environment right at home. I turned my passion into a business, creating an online fish store, selling shrimp and aspiring to sell seahorses. My journey with seahorse breeding eventually became a research project exploring breeding methods in captivity. Which fueled my passion for research and led me right here to ESF. I’ve also been able to explore the human aspects of environmentalism from many perspectives. Through classes, committees, and even a trip to Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. This experience was transformative, allowing me to grow as a leader and community member. One of my proudest achievements here at ESF is the creation of the lunar lounge, a safe space for students to socialize and home to intersectional club meetings. I also helped create the Mosaic committee, bringing together all 10 intersectional clubs on campus. We recently held the first ever mosaic quest, one of the largest multicultural events in ESF’s history. And as a person of color, the Lewis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation Program has been crucial in reaching my academic goals in finding a supportive community of students and staff empowering me to become the leader I am today. Here at ESF, I’ve been able to turn my dreams into a reality. Here I feel like I matter. The work I do matters. I matter to my campus community, and I leave an impact not only here, but on the planet as well. Thank you for coming along with me on my journey. Back to you, Alex.

– Daniel, we are so impressed with how you use your life experience to not only create a business, but a whole community at ESF for the intersectional students on campus, your compassion helps move our world forward. We’re all wishing you all the best.