voice

Those who tried to discourage me were wrong. If they still do not believe that one person can change the world, I need only tell them what their lives would be like, had it not been for Rachel. Then they would believe.
Many people think of greatness starting in the settings of wealth and popularity. Maybe that is why it is hard for many to believe that any average person can change the world. Who would have guessed that a small town girl from Pennsylvania would dare to be different?
Rachel was the youngest of Robert and Maria Carson�s three children. In a small farmhouse on a 65-acre land parcel, young Rachel gained a love and respect for nature. She was encouraged by her mother to enjoy the beauty and wonder of the world around her, as well as take pleasure from reading and music. Rachel would often spend her time exploring her family�s property, which was for the most part untouched. She also took great interest in writing, having entered a contest as a child and won first place.
Having an excellent role model, wonderful surroundings, and determination to succeed, Rachel set many goals in her life. One of these goals was to go on to college. Another to become a writer.
When I reflect upon my role models, I often wonder how they got to be who they are. From what I�ve read about them or (from those who are living) by what they have told me, I have come to the conclusion that all have had role models. Our heroes shape who we are whether we realize it or not.
I�d like to think that I may one day be someone�s role model and inspire them to follow their dreams, to speak out against what is wrong, and praise what is just. Maybe I already have. I do not know.
All I know is that people watch each other; they learn from each other. Just as Rachel learned from her mother and mentors, or Aldo his father, or my role models from their heroes, we influence those around us. I consider Rachel to be one of my role models, one of my heroes, just as I consider others. We all need to set good examples for those around us. Heroes inspire people to change the world. We must live our lives by our ethics and know that no matter how small of a change it may seem, we are changing the world.
Rachel entered the Pennsylvania College for Women in 1925. It was not easy. In order to pay tuition, Rachel had to take out loans form college administrators. The administrators recognized Rachel�s strong will and granted her help. Her family was rich in love and joy, but it was tied on money. She ended up working her way through college.
She entered the college, majoring in English. She wanted to achieve her goal of being a writer. Her determination was fueled by her success. Rachel wrote many articles and stories and submitted some for publication. But on her road to graduating college and becoming a writer, Rachel still had to fill the requirements of two semesters of science.
For one of her classes, she would have Ms. Mary Skinker as a biology teacher. Skinker brought the concept of living in harmony with nature, into the classroom and encouraged students to develop a love of the land. It was then that Rachel was inspired to follow a different road to her dreams.
Despite much dispute between her and her supporters, Rachel changed her major to zoology during her junior year of college. Rachel saw opportunities down the road of science and devoted great amounts of her time to her studies, so she would finish in time for her graduation. She succeeded once again and obtained the high honor of magna cum laude, as she graduated in 1929. Rachel proved that hard work pays off. She set high standards for herself and met them. It was no wonder that she received a full scholarship from John Hopkins University. Rachel was succeeding in the world of science, a field that was considered inappropriate for women at the time.
Once again Rachel was inspired by a role model. If she would not have had the required biology class, everything could have turned out differently. Fate is a funny thing. Things happen for reasons unknown to man. Rachel probably never expected to follow the path of science, during her education. But look how it changed the world. One little thing can cause a whole chain of events.
It was the work that she did at John Hopkins that encouraged Rachel to follow a study of the sea. She participated in research at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood Hole, Massachusetts. Because of her intense work, her family moved to the coast to be near Rachel. Rachel continued her work and even supported her family with part time teaching jobs. She lived in the years of the Great Depression, when times were hard and money was tight.
It seemed like Rachel had a lot of hard times. Her father died in July of 1935, so money became an even bigger issue. Even after Rachel got a job with the Bureau of Fisheries, Rachel�s sister died, leaving Rachel to care for her two daughters. Despite these events, she continued to preserve.
Her career with the Bureau of Fisheries ended up being one of the best things that could have happened to Rachel. She started by writing the scripts of radio programs about the sea and aquatic life. Only a year after receiving the job, Rachel decided to advance her career, and become a full-time junior biologist. She took the civil service exam and became the first woman to ever pass it. To put the icing on the cake, she scored highest out of a group of all males. Rachel Carson became the first female biologist to ever be hired by the Bureau of Fisheries.
She defied the odds. Rachel did not let gender barriers keep her from achieving her goals. She helped lead the way for future female scientists.
During her career, of 16 years, with the Bureau, Rachel continued to do what she loved, write. She wrote several pamphlets and articles, including Undersea, describing the sea and its abundant life. Her work was held in high regards by naturalists and biologists of the time.
Her writings advanced and grew popular among publishers. Many big name magazines, such as The New Yorker and Reader�s Digest, purchased pre-publication rights of Rachel�s books. Her dream of writing was becoming a reality. Due to her success, Rachel decided to leave the Bureau of Fisheries, in 1952, and dedicate her time to her writings. She wrote many more books about he sea, including the �sea series�: Under the Sea Wind, the Sea Around Us, and the Edge of the Sea. All of her books ended up on best seller lists. Her talent of writing would lead Rachel to changing the world for ever.
We do our best when we love what we do. Rachel loved to write, but more importantly, she loved what she was writing about, the sea. She showed her love of the land through her writings and implemented the idea of living with the land, not above it.
It was after her mother�s death, when Rachel received a fateful letter from a woman by the name of Olga Owens Huckins. The year was 1958. The subject of the letter was about a terrible incident that involved the deaths of many birds that lived on the private bird sanctuary of Huckins. Huckins believed that the birds died because of an unannounced spraying of the pesticide known as DDT, in the area of the sanctuary. Rachel decided to look into the matter.
Her findings were terrifying. After talking with fellow scientists, Rachel discovered several scientific studies of the effects of DDT on animal life as well as hundreds and thousands of complaints and reports about death and injury due to DDT poisoning. With this information, Rachel knew what she had to do.
The possession of knowledge gives us the responsibility to act. The conscious of any moral person would not let them walk away from such a thing as DDT. Rachel spoke out against pesticide by using her book, Silent Spring. The same reasons Rachel decided to write Silent Spring are some of the same reasons why I�ve chosen to dedicate my life to saving the land.
I am conscious of the problems and I need to act in order to help solve them. One of my wishes that I�ve dreamt about many a time, has been to live away from all technology. To live off of what the land provides, to be apart of it. Oh what I wouldn�t give, at times, to just be out there with only myself, my thoughts, a notebook and pen, and the land. But I know that I will never be able to do that permanently. Sure, I could always decide to go off into the remaining wilderness, maybe Canada, and just be some hermit, never seeing the lights of machinery, or breathing the smog in the air.
I could turn my back on the mechanized world and it�s sometimes horrible creations, but I can not. I could not do that to future generations, or those presently living. Going off into the wilderness would be selfish. I could not do it and enjoy it at the same time. I could never live out there alone while knowing what goes on in the �civilized� world. I�d be letting the problems of today, possibly, go unsolved.
I know that I will never see what I desire, but I hope that with my work, I will help make it possible for future generations to experience only what my ancestors have seen and what I only dream of. I, like Rachel and everyone else who knows the problems the land is facing, have the responsibility to solve the problems and make the world a better place.
Rachel spent the next four years of her life sorting through her collected data and writing her famous work. But she did not do this easily. At the time of writing Silent Spring, Rachel suffered health problems such as arthritis, ulcers, and even a heart attack.
In 1960, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite her health condition and radiation therapy, Rachel continued to write.
Finally in 1962, Silent Spring was completed. The book brought on serious attacks against Rachel. Her scientific credibility was challenged by many chemical companies (the producers of the pesticides). She was ridiculed and referred to as the �anti-humanitarian crank� or �nature nut.� She endured the onslaught and spoke up, even in front of Congress. Because of her writings, President John F. Kennedy established a committee to research Rachel�s findings. The committee looked into pesticides such as DDT, Aldrin, and other chlorinated hydrocarbons. They confirmed the distressing truth. By writing Silent Spring, Rachel started a movement that made people more aware of what was going on in their environment.
After a long battle to get the word out about pesticides, like DDT, and her struggle with breast cancer, Rachel Louise Carson died on April 14, 1964, at the age of 56.
Before her death she received recognition for her achievements and work to warn the world. Afterwards more people began to take notice. Because of the added awareness, brought by Silent Spring, the Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970. She did not see all the fruits of her labors. She ended up dedicating her life to making a difference and later she would, unknowingly, inspire many more women, and men alike, to dedicate their lives to changing the world for the better.
Rachel Carson, determined and head strong, warned the people of the world of dangers they were headed for, due to their own lack of observation. She, like many others, helped save us from our own destruction. Can one person change the world? Yes. Rachel Carson proved it.