Getting Back on Track by Nicholas

Getting Back on Track by Nicholas - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I was born and raised on a large acreage in the middle of Iowa, not on a farm, it was mostly timber and a vineyard. We, my brother and I, had “worked” since we were able to lift anything into a pickup bed, or drag anything into a brush pile or down a creek bank. It was often heavy work, and it wasn’t something we looked forward to, but it always felt good to complete a large task together. And no matter what, the work was outside. Summer or winter, highs of 105 or lows of -10, you had “work shoes/boots”, “ratty jackets”, or “work pants”, and it gave me an opportunity to experience the natural environment of Iowa in every season.
My first 18 years kept me working outside, which formed in me an incredible respect for wildlife and its habitat. I learned a little bit of land management and erosion, the positives and negatives of hunting, and as a child I quickly learned how to move through the forest without being snagged by the brambles or touching the poison ivy. Looking back, I could have easily gone to school for an Environmental Science degree and loved every minute of it, and I should have.
Unfortunately, money plays a large role in everyone’s life, I believe that it’s easier to remain a part of society when you have money. And as a young man deciding “what to do with the rest of my life”, I chose to get a pilots license. It played to my ego, promised adventure (and delivered), and payed very well. But it didn’t help me find a completeness or full happiness. I was, and still am, looking down on the earth, wishing I was in the forest instead of in the cockpit. I don’t think I failed when choose something other than Environmental Science the first time, I just took the longer trail.
I have decided to take the bold first steps to change my career of “Pilot” and pursue Environmental Science. I am listening to the desire to be outside and ignoring the voice that worries about not making as much money. I believe that I will be happier and satisfied in the bigger picture if I can balance my life a little bit better. To get back outside and manage the land, to show others how incredible the forest can be, or to help preserve the wilderness for other generations who might prefer it to the noise of the city. It’s impossible to list and pinpoint the personal experiences that led me to select Environmental Science as a major and career, I am only able to say that I have lived outside, and I need to get back.