A letter from Dec 04, 2022

Dear Future Self, Since starting my journey of environmentalism at Cal Poly Humboldt, I’ve seen quite the change in the ways I view certain aspects of the topic. For one, the most important thing I’ve found to be important to myself in the life pathway I’m currently pursuing is to set specific foundations in terms of what I’m looking for. It could start with taking classes that I find interesting or somewhere where I can volunteer. Another I do find to be just as important is how I can set out to make a change in the world at a smaller scale. What are the problems that are arising in my community? What will the long term effects be? How can I make a difference in said community? In what ways can I get involved? Of course, most of the ambitions I have won’t change overnight. Given that I’m currently only in my first semester at Humboldt, I have a long road ahead of me. Yet there’s still some things that are missing in my current life. As you may have already known/guessed, much of the obstacles I’m currently facing are nothing short of motivational. The classes I’m taking, the habits that still persist, the lack of maintaining an organized schedule, these are all examples of this. I still have yet to even figure out how long I’m even going to be at Humboldt for, be it 3 more or 5 more semesters. But it doesn’t have to entirely be misguided. I could do some research on local volunteer opportunities that are of interest, then schedule out what days of the week I could volunteer. From there, I could work there long enough to get a paid internship that would give me enough experience to know what part of the environmental field (in my case, conservation) fits best for me. I currently have several ambitions I’m wanting to take during my time at Humboldt. I still want to pursue the things I’ve always talked about, such as studying abroad in Costa Rica or volunteering for environmental nonprofits such as the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust. The first thing I would most likely want to do is to look into when these could work the best timing wise. For instance, I’m considering enrolling in the study abroad program in Spring 2024. The volunteering thing, on the other hand, could almost certainly be as soon as next year (2023). To finish off, if I’m going to give some advice, I would say to try and find the most realistic, yet comfortable goal without trying to burn yourself out. Even when you walk down the aisle and take the B.A. by the hand, you might not know where you are going to end up as a final career, or even if the job that you start with in the environmental field is even the right fit for you. And that’s okay! If you don’t think that the work you’re in is the right fit, find another way around it, be it through grad school, or looking into other career opportunities, there is no fixed path in the complex world that is finding a life goal which will fulfill both the passions you possess and the ways you want to make a change in the world. Godspeed, Jack (c. 2022)