Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area among consistent drought, fire, and smoke. From an early age, I understood the negative impact that an increasingly severe climate crisis could have on entire communities. With this backdrop, I set off on my largest commitment to date, improving the physical world around me through acts of preservation. First passively and then actively, I have focused my actions and career on creating a sustainable future free from the repercussions of climate change. My first acts of preservation started with community-wide water conservation amidst drought in the San Francisco Bay Area. I took “power showers” of less than five minutes and maintained rules for toilet flushing (that often seemed to break learned etiquette). My family followed “Spare the Air” days by not lighting fires through much of the winter to avoid contributing to poor air quality with added particulate matter. These actions were not initially for a greater personal goal but certainly drove my eventual commitment to driving sustainable change. This commitment actively started when I pursued a chemical engineering degree to prepare me for a career in energy and the environment. At the University of Michigan, my difficult coursework yielded a technical base that I have applied to my greater career when addressing carbon emissions and my impact on them. ¬After school I set off to make the difference that I had been preparing for when I started work as a natural gas pipeline engineer for DTE Energy and then for PSEG. While the connection to environmental improvement may not be immediately clear, I actively create and set into action solutions to reduce fugitive methane emissions from pipelines. First in designing pipeline replacement projects and then through calculating pipeline risk to optimize the replacement, I have eliminated future emissions and created more sustainable pipeline operation. In my professional career, I made true on my commitment to make the largest impact that I can to limit emissions and combat climate change. I have continued to limit the negative impact that I have on the world in my personal life as well. I no longer hike the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in New Jersey just for fun, but instead provide trail maintenance for the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference. As a trail maintainer, I keep up the quality of the trails that erode from human traffic and from consistent and severe storms. Seizing the opportunity to turn my hobbies into a force for good invigorates me and further solidifies my dedication. My largest commitment to date has been the work that I have put in to preserving the world around me and planning for a better future. While the time and effort committed to this cause has been considerable, I still have plenty of work to do. I will continue to weigh the impacts of my actions each day with the goal of preserving the planet that we all share and ensuring future without the pressures of a warming climate.