Although this may not seem like much, this is one of the first moments I was able to visualize what climate change actually was. In 2018, I had the privilege of being a youth ambassador to Catania, Italy on behalf of the City of Phoenix. My host family took me to this beach where they say The Postman was filmed. They told me that this beach used to be one of their favorite beaches and it stretched almost a quarter-mile, and now it had disappeared. This was the first moment that I could actually point to something and say, "This is climate change." I could always describe the effects of climate change and how it was bad for the world, but this was the first time that I felt robbed by it. I would never have the chance to walk on my host family's favorite beach, which may seem a little selfish, but it is a more personal reason to fight climate change. And every additional reason to protect our planet is a good reason in my book.
Although this may not seem like much, this is one of the first moments I was able to visualize what climate change actually was. In 2018, I had the privilege of being a youth ambassador to Catania, Italy on behalf of the City of Phoenix. My host family took me to this beach where they say The Postman was filmed. They told me that this beach used to be one of their favorite beaches and it stretched almost a quarter-mile, and now it had disappeared. This was the first moment that I could actually point to something and say, "This is climate change." I could always describe the effects of climate change and how it was bad for the world, but this was the first time that I felt robbed by it. I would never have the chance to walk on my host family's favorite beach, which may seem a little selfish, but it is a more personal reason to fight climate change. And every additional reason to protect our planet is a good reason in my book.