Mentor: Chelsea Cancino

Class Rank: Sophomore

Major: Environmental Science with specialization in Ecosystem Restoration

Questions:

1. How did you decide on the major you have chosen?

Before coming to OSU, Chelsea was homeschooled for eight years. She had a flexible curriculum, which allowed her to pick courses of her interest that other students in public schools could not take. One of such courses, ecology, piqued her interest and kick-started her journey in environmental science. From there, Chelsea went on outdoor adventure trips with various organizations to feed her passion for the sciences. On one of her trips- a 75-mile canoeing trek- Chelsea discussed possible careers in environmental science with a mentor. Specifically, they talked about ecosystem restoration. After Chelsea learned that she could transform her love for ecology into a career from this experience, Chelsea was inspired to enter OSU as an Environmental Science major with a specialization in Ecosystem Restoration.

2. What is your backup plan for your career in case your first plan does not work out for some reason?

Chelsea’s current plan for her career is to work with a restoration consulting agency, in either the public or private sector. She does not know whether she wants to work with a private agency or with the public, government agency, since she enjoys aspects of both sectors. In order to decide, however, she aims to gain experience in both sectors in her undergraduate years. Currently, Chelsea is an intern with the Climate Reality Project. This organization is helping her gain knowledge in the field of ecosystem restoration as a whole, but she wants to intern with an agency in the private sector. To do this, she aims to stay specific with her major and obtain a minor in Earth Sciences. She believes that this will improve her chances of becoming an intern with an environmental consulting agency, which is in the private sector. With her internships and degree once she graduates, Chelsea’s plan is to get a job with either a private environmental consulting agency or the EPA, the governmental agency, as a restoration ecologist. If this does not work, however, Chelsea’s back-up plan is to either work as a geologist or an aquatics director for the aquatics program she currently works for in Cincinnati.

3. What advice do you wish someone gave you your freshman year?

When she first started at OSU, Chelsea’s transition from home to college was generally smooth. For her, the first year meant a fresh start since she was very involved in her high school and she no longer had a club attached to her name. Unfortunately though, Chelsea still faced a few issues during her first year. She struggled primarily with time management; she signed herself up for too many clubs and organizations and quickly found that she could only involve herself in the things that mattered to her, not just the things she liked. So, she cut back on her involvement so that she did not spread herself too thin. However, Chelsea was still a very busy person on a tight time schedule. It was easy for her to become stressed. This year, after making some adaptations to her routine to reduce stress, Chelsea wishes that someone would have told her to be physically active as much as possible, get enough sleep, and to caffeinate correctly if she could not get enough sleep. Physical activity helps Chelsea release her stresses from the day and helps her maintain focus for the homework, internships, and clubs she is involved in. Getting enough sleep gives her enough energy for the day, but if Chelsea cannot get enough sleep, she has learned when to drink caffeine so she still has the energy she needs. For example, she drinks high-caffeinated tea and only drinks it in the mornings. This way, she is not brought down by a sugar crash from coffee and she is not up all night with an excess of energy.

4. What type of volunteer hours, internships, etc. have you done since you have been a student at OSU? How did you first get involved with them?

Chelsea is currently involved with the Climate Reality Project, in which she is a coordinator. She learned about this project through a guest speaker in one of her classes during her first year. It interested her because the organization seemed to actually make a difference in environmental policy. She is also a member of SPDA, which is a board of recreation activities. She currently takes trips to other universities to see how they run their recreation programs and facilities in order to improve those of OSU. She got involved with this when she was volunteering for them during her first year. Next, Chelsea is the vice president of the Morrill Tower Activities Board. She plans on events that happen at OSU, most of them being large-scale like West Fest. She got involved with this because she likes to learn about the big events that happened on campus and be a part of them. Finally, Chelsea is an ENR Scholars mentor. She wanted to become a mentor because she wanted to positively impact the freshman and help them make the most of both their college and ENR Scholars experiences.

5. What advice do you have for making the most of the ENR program?

To make the most of ENR, Chelsea urges those involved to take advantage of all of the events that the program offers. She believes that ENR gives students opportunities that they would not normally have otherwise. ENR is also very affordable and it allows students to get experience with camping and the outdoors that they may not have gotten at home. With the events the program offers, Chelsea has made some of her closest friends at OSU and forced herself to go outside of her comfort zone to discover her sense of adventure that she now applies to her academics. She advises that students in the program also simply start conversations with others because they are all living together and they have similar interests, as they are all in the same program. To Chelsea, by taking advantage of the flexibility of the program, the ease of social interaction, and the events that are offered, she has made the most of ENR and guarantees other students will make the most of the program if they do the same.

Chelsea’s experiences and advice helped and inspired me to think about my first year from a different perspective. I found that she and I share similar personality traits, though we have different interests. It was helpful to see how she is getting involved in the things that feed her passion, as I can relate to her dedication and busy lifestyle. From our conversation, I learned that a small amount of self-organization can go a long way. Instead of being involved in 15 clubs that she likes, Chelsea is only dedicated to the clubs, internships, and programs that pertain to what matters to her. This kind of thinking made me reconsider my involvement and OSU now and if I believe I really have a passion for what I am doing now and if I am truly going to take away valuable experience to apply to my life in the future. I now know that, for the future, it is sufficient to have one internship and a leadership role in a couple clubs if I am acquiring the knowledge I need to be successful. Also, with Chelsea’s day-to-day organization, I learned that small actions, like exercising and drinking tea instead of coffee, can truly make a difference in my stress level. Finally, our conversation taught me how simple it is to make the most of the ENR program, as everything I need is right in front of me; all I need is to step out of my comfort zone. Thanks to Chelsea, I can begin to make sure I do just that each day- as it has worked for her to this point in her life.