Lynn Davis Scholarship Personal Statement – Nathan Manthey (Nelson County High School, Lovingston, VA)
From the day I was born I’ve been deeply immersed in the beauty of nature in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As someone who has lived in Nellysford, VA all my life, I have grown up surrounded by the beautiful rivers and lucious forests in the valley of the Blue Ridge.
In 2014, my friends and family were deeply affected by the announcement of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that was due to go through the woods about 300 feet from my house. My family became immense contributors to the “Friends of Nelson” and “No Pipeline” movement. Throughout the six years of fighting for our land I learned the importance of not giving up on the world around you and the value of nature.
The lasting effects of that fight still exist within me today and I am always looking for ways to reduce my footprint on our world. From reducing the use of plastics to changing the cars we drive in I believe there is always work to be done by the average person. As a person going into the field of biology I hope to positively impact my nature and community by furthering what we know as a species. In order to take action on climate change and environmental attacks we must, as a culture, be informed on the most basic level of how we affect the world and how we can help it.
I hope that one day I can find myself in a line of work that contributes to this increasingly important cause. Over the next four years at the University of Virginia, I hope to gain skills not only to allow me to advance my career but also to make me a more well-rounded member of society. All my life I have participated in community volunteer opportunities and I hope to continue contributing to future communities as well.
With the education and experiences I will gain at UVA, I am eager to become a dedicated advocate for the environment, using my passion and knowledge to protect the natural world that has shaped me and to inspire others to do the same.