I have always been a person who is not afraid to formulate my own opinions. Ever since I was young I have been a tough one to sway. My parents once told me that even about the smallest things like certain flavor of ice cream, and I always knew what I wanted. However this does not mean that I am stubborn and refuse to accept change. Change, actually, is something I have come to accept will always be necessary if the world wants to see improvement. In the current world we are living in today, we certainly need a lot of change, change necessary to ensure the continuation of comfortable and civilized humanity. In my sophomore year of high school I had an attitude as rebellious as can be; I was constantly questioning why things are the way things are the ways they are. I could not fathom the fact that there were so many flaws in almost every way our society works. I gained knowledge of the corruption and fallacies in our political systems expressed through music, fearless radio stations and powerful advocates. They taught me of the endearing situations much of the world and many people even in our country of America endure. The imprisonment of figureheads such as Mumia Abu Jamal and treatment of third world countries as a result of the economic system enraged me. I read publishing's, essays, and listening to audio clips of whatever I could find enriching my knowledge of the truth of how the world works. Through teaching of respected elders such as Jacque Fresco, the man responsible for my awareness of the importance of sustainability, and the legacies of past civilizations I formed ideals which I hold most important to myself. I learned that the what is key in life is health, I have consistently worked out and kept in shape since the age of fifteen, I only eat what is organic and reluctantly eat what has been mass produced when it is necessary. Knowledge, something that I will always value and expand upon, however it was not until later years when I fully understood how to do. Also, respect and stewardship of the environment, people such as Thomas Malthus, Garrett Hardin, the previously mentioned Jacque Fresco, and many others encouraged this upon me. At the the mere age of fifteen and sixteen, I was founding my core values and I thought I had all these answers. Who could blame me for refusing to “enslave” myself to a system which I thought was a cause for the world problems and unfairness. It was not that I did not have the capacity achieve the grades expected during these years, I was simply incapacitated from working for a system which I saw as my adversary, it would just be incongruous. However, besides from the fact my grade point average suffering during this period as a result of my divergent attitude, I would never take back the way I developed through this time. Without them I think it would prevent me from accomplishing what I must in life. As I grew older I began to get antsy, my usual routine was not enough to give me a sense of complacency and I decided that enough time had been wasted sitting around. My times of being a “coffee shop revolutionary” were coming to an end. This was around the time of my Junior year summer when I volunteered to work at a mentally handicapped daycare center. I learned quite a bit from working there and had the chance to observe how the more blue collar and working class of America functions. When I look back on it, this was actually one of the most beneficial turning points in my life, this is because during this time I matured. I got somewhat a slap in my face when I realized that if I were to carry on the way I was going I would end up with the image of your spurious and ignoble screw the system, but why? I do not really know, kind of person. This is not what I intend to be at all. From that point I made my main focus becoming a person which people can look up to and hopefully follow, a person whose footsteps should be trod in, not a person who simply struggles to get by. I realized that my enemy was not the school system or the government, these were just entities run by people who many times do not know or understand the effects or their actions. School became a top priority, it was the only way which I could gain respect from a public view, and at the same time gain the knowledge which was and still is so important to me. Having done so, I have actually noticed that I am not too dim a bulb, understanding what is taught to me in school is not only extremely beneficial, but fun, too. I do not mean to brag but even though I was advised against taking an AP, I have consistently been receiving the highest grades in the class. I could not be happier that my immature and almost self destructive younger years are over, now is my time to blossom. With my recent studies I have come to develop a better understanding of how the world works, may I point out the irony at its finest. The world is facing a plethora of serious issues requiring assiduous effort to solve. The ones which have been brought to my main concern are the issues concerning the environment. These problems are serious and could lead to serious loss in human life and a massive deficit in the economy. I have joined my school environmentalism club, club green, and attended seminars held by the Green Village Initiative, a group which supports funding, staff and partnership to individuals and groups committed to the environment and community. These two things, on top taking AP Environmental Science, have caused my powerful revolutionary spirit to shift gears and smarten up. I now understand that many of the major problems we face today can be best described by the quote by Oystein Dahle, the former vice president of Esso, "communism collapsed because it didn't show the economic truth, capitalism will collapse because it doesn’t show the ecological truth". My life has been gifted by this knowledge and I have found what I must work towards. Whether I will ever make a difference and help prevent any of the impending dangers humans faces through the destruction of our environment is not clear, but it is definitely something I deem worth. In fact, I feel it is my duty, how can a person who is aware of these facts allow the world to live on in a sea of ignorant bliss, day by day coming closer to their demise. That just does not seem morally logical to me. The way the world used to work based off the ideals of mass consumption and exponential growth, just are not environmentally sustainable anymore and our civilization is going to need change. I intend on to go to college to attain the best possible education I can, strengthening my chances on aiding the stoppage of our human mistakes. Creating technologies with less of an environmental impact, learning and working toward the means of increasing the magnitude of the environmental movement, and fixing human health issues are all in my sights. To a certain degree I also will work toward becoming a minor form of a renaissance man, what I mentions are my main goals in life there is much more to live for like my intentions to improve my skill of producing music and my knowledge of history. I do not think like your run of the mill kid, yet neither am I your cream of the crop student, but when given motive, I can work. I used to live by the motto, knowledge and health reign supreme, but what do those mean without action? I have learned from my mistakes and now is the time for me to act, and in the words of the but one of the many great revolutionists Peter Tosh, I must fight on, because actions speak far louder than words.