2016 Student of the Year: Selma Ruiz
On May 18, 2016 NatureBridge awarded Selma Ruiz with the 2016 Student of the Year Award. Read her acceptance speech, and learn more about how a NatureBridge program in Yosemite impacted her life.
"Hello, my name is Selma Ruiz and I'm fourteen years old. #
I home school and attend classes at One Spark Academy. My city, Newbury Park, is a coastal desert environment with a very little amount of trees; extremely different than my experience in Yosemite. There it was green, lush, and had an abundance of beautiful tall pine trees. I had never seen an enviorment so vastly different than my own because my family doesn’t really have the funds to travel.
Paying for the trip needed lots of determination from my whole family. I sold coupon cards to neighbors, gathered sponsors for a hike-a-thon, helped in a car wash, and my family also had a yard sale! My little brother even sold some of his toys just so I could go on the trip! Since we were traveling in colder months I needed to borrow cold weather clothing from friends. Just driving into the park itself was a shock and I instantly knew all the hard work my mother and I did to get my there was worth it.
I even wrote in a journal every night so I would never forget all of my amazing experiences. My favorite hike was our challenge hike to Columbia rock. I was actually pretty nervous, it seemed like a loooong way up. We had to hike some tiresome switch-backs but when we reached the top it revealed a beautiful view of the entire valley. I will never forget the sense of accomplishment I felt standing on the top.
Our educator Andrew Davids was truly the one who opened a possibility in my life I didn’t even know existed. His job as an educator for NatureBridge allows him to live in Yosemite, something I didn't even know was possible. His infectious excitement for teaching us made me eager to learn as much as possible while on the trip. His endless knowledge of nature not only inspired me but also changed me entire family's lifestyle.Selma
We now make a conscious effort to get into nature more often and even have a future goal of hiking to the top of Mount Whitney! I've already researched and discovered that being a park ranger would be a dream come true for me. NatureBridge's trip affected my entire life and revealed a path my future can definitely lead.
I'd like to thank my teacher from One Spark, Ms. Lori Peters, for not only nominating me for this award but for always giving me incredible opportunities to grow as a student and a person. Thank you to my mother, and best friend, for always supporting me and making me the person I am today. And I'd also like the thank everyone here for making these life changing opportunities possible for students like me.
And of course thank you NatureBridge for allowing me to travel in these beautiful parks and experience nature firsthand. And choosing me, as student of the year.
Stories
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As an environmental science educator, I spend a lot of time teaching about nature, but this season I’ve been finding that as it turns out, nature has a lot to teach us, too. Sometimes I can let the trees, the meadow, and the lichen teach for me. They show us how to respect each other’s boundaries, how to celebrate differences, how to work together, and how to lean on each other’s strengths in order to exist in a new place. These lessons felt incredibly relevant to me heading into the first week of November, a notoriously busy time at NatureBridge Yosemite. I wanted to focus on messages of kindness and inclusivity with my students, I wanted them to feel a sense of belonging in this new space, and I also hoped that they would share those messages with others.
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