Being a Young Ambassador has totally changed how I look at taking care of the environment and being an active citizen. At first, I thought I could just come up with these huge ideas to fix big environmental problems all by myself. But after working with middle school kids, I realized how powerful it is when people team up and let solutions come from the community itself.

Working alongside these younger students showed me that we can't solve massive issues like environmental destruction by going solo. Real stewardship means getting everyone to feel responsible and using all our different perspectives. I learned that the best solutions often grow naturally from within communities, instead of being forced on them from the outside. One kid's simple suggestion of using chicken wire over storm drains made me see how much impact grassroots ideas can have.

This experience made me super appreciate innovative, outside-the-box thinking, even from unexpected places. I realized that nurturing curiosity and encouraging creative problem-solving is key for effective environmental advocacy and being a good citizen. Instead of just lecturing, my role became more about facilitating, asking weird questions to spark the students' imaginations and get their innovative juices flowing.

I also started to understand the importance of constantly learning and improving ideas over time. I got comfortable sharing half-baked thoughts, knowing that through collaborating and open discussions, those ideas could get better and better. Embracing imperfection and seeing failures as learning opportunities is crucial for stewardship, since environmental issues often need solutions that can adapt and evolve.

Most importantly, being a Young Ambassador gave me a huge confidence boost in my own voice and ideas. By creating a supportive space to share and refine our thoughts, the program helped me trust my perspective, even when I was unsure. This confidence is invaluable for being an active citizen, because it allows me to really advocate for what I believe in and contribute to important conversations about change.

The bottom line is my Young Ambassador experience taught me that stewardship and civic engagement aren't solo missions - they're team efforts. They need collaboration, grassroots thinking, innovation, constant learning, and the courage to find and amplify your voice. These lessons have completely shaped how I approach environmental advocacy and my role as a citizen who wants to make a difference.

Now, thinking about Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful's mission to get Pennsylvanians involved in keeping their communities clean and beautiful, there are a few ways I've tried to contribute since becoming a Young Ambassador...

As a Young Ambassador, I've been trying to do my part in keeping Pennsylvania beautiful and empowering others in my community to get involved too. Here are a few ways I've positively contributed since joining the program:

First up, I helped organize and lead educational events for middle schoolers in my area. We'd get the kids together and get their creative juices flowing by throwing out wild prompts like "How can we turn trash into treasure?" or "What's the most eco-friendly way to wash your car?" Then we'd have them work in teams to pitch innovative solutions. It was a blast seeing their minds at work, and it inspired them to start thinking about sustainability in their daily lives. A bunch of the students even took the initiative to start recycling programs or community clean-ups at their schools after our events.

I also tried to lead by example and be a visible force for environmental action in my neighborhood. Whenever I was out and about, I made sure to pick up any litter I saw and properly dispose of it. I'd even make a game of it, challenging my friends to a "trash scavenger hunt" to see who could collect the most on our street. It was a small thing, but setting that example encouraged others to be more mindful too.

Finally, I used my social media and my network to rally more of my peers to the cause. I'd post about local clean-up events, share mind-blowing facts about pollution, and just try to keep environmental issues at the forefront in my conversations. My conversations and posts struck a chord because I had so many people asking how they could get involved. From there, I was able to connect them with volunteer opportunities or just give tips on small sustainable swaps they could make in their daily routines.

At the end of the day, being a Young Ambassador made me realize that keeping Pennsylvania beautiful goes way beyond just not littering yourself. It's about inspiring and empowering others through education, leading by example, and using your voice and platform to rally the troops. Even though my individual actions were small, I tried to have a ripple effect by getting my community engaged and excited about sustainability. Because the more of us who are committed to the cause, the bigger impact we can make in keeping our state clean, green, and beautiful for future generations.

Here are three things I learned about myself because of my experience as a Young Ambassador:

1) I learned I'm way more of a team player than I thought. Before this, I was all about trying to be the solo hero coming up with the big, grand solutions to environmental problems. But after working with those middle school kids, I realized how much more powerful it is when we join forces and let ideas flow from the whole community. Working with young middle school students showed me that true innovation and creative solutions often come from unexpected places when we collaborate. I'm not just a lone wolf anymore – I'm all about that team effort now.

2) I discovered I have a knack for sparking creativity in others. Instead of just lecturing or preaching my own ideas, I found my role was more about facilitating and asking those weird, off-the-wall questions that got the students' imaginations firing on all cylinders. I loved seeing their eyes light up and their innovative juices start flowing when I posed quirky prompts like "How can we stop puddle portals?" or "What's the trick to draining bacteria's playgrounds?" It was like I had this superpower for unlocking their out-there thinking, and it made me realize I have a real talent for inspiring creativity in others.

3) I gained mad confidence in trusting my own voice and ideas. Before, I was always second-guessing myself and worried about sounding naive or uninformed. But the Young Ambassadors program created this dope, supportive space where we could just freely share half-baked thoughts and refine them together. That experience helped me get comfortable with imperfection and see failures as opportunities to level up. Now, even when I'm not 100% sure, I have the courage to speak up and fight for what I believe in. That newfound confidence in my perspective and ability to contribute to important conversations is invaluable.

Overall, this Young Ambassador journey has been a total eye-opener. I went from thinking I had to be this lone environmental hero to realizing the real power is in teamwork, grassroots innovation, and uplifting each other's voices. I surprised myself by how well I can spark creativity in others and gained priceless self-trust in my own ideas and ability to drive change.