A brief rant

M,

Perhaps I was unclear about the way in which I was amenable to my speech being changed. I thought that Thursday night, when I talked to you about my speech we both agreed that we wouldn’t change any of the parts of my speech about global climate change. In my speech, I had “Saving the planet is going to be a global effort” and conclude my speech with “we believe that we will be the ones to save the world.” In your edits you write “Taking care of the natural resources that surround us needs to be a global effort” and conclude with “we can help conserve all the natural wonders that surround us.” I know I didn’t get a chance to get back to you before the speech was read but I thought I was pretty clear about not wanting to change those passages and I was wondering why you did.

In anticipation of your reply,

Monya

My paragraph:

And ultimately, that is why I do this job, and why most of us do this job. It’s no secret that our planet is in trouble right now. Saving the planet is going to be a global effort and we’re going to need all hands on deck. And that’s what we’re doing on all of the crews. Because if a single one of those kids from the new camper program decides she wants to protect the woods, I will consider my role in this program a success. Because if a kid who I taught about tiny little insects living in the hudson river becomes interested in conservation somewhere down the line then to me, at least, these ten months will have been worth it. Change, in my short experience, happens from person to person. And we, as members of the Excelsior Corps, are the ones creating meaningful and tangible change. Rock by rock, shovel by shovel, person by person, day by day. We do it because we believe in the SCA and we believe that we will be the ones to save the world.

M’s Edits

And that, is why I do this job, why many of us do this job. Taking care of the natural resources that surround us needs to be a global effort- and we need everyone’s help. That’s what we’re doing on all of the crews. If a single kid from the new camper program decides they want to protect the woods, I will consider my role in this program a success. If any child that my crew has educated or has had an interaction with the other crews while they’re in the field becomes inspired by our work, then these ten months will have been worth it.  Change happens from person to person, and as members of the Excelsior Conservation Corps, we are creating meaningful and tangible change- rock by rock, shovel by shovel, person by person, and day by day. We believe in our work and that we can help conserve all the natural wonders that surround us.