My Climate Story
Originally published in 2015 for a speech at the MN Capitol Earth Day 2015 event.
My name is Espoir DelMain, I’m 17 and a Junior at Great River School. I’m a part of YEA!MN (a program of Climate Generation) because I am passionate about environmental justice. but I wouldn’t say that I have a certain moment in particular or thing that happened to me that fueled this passion.
Growing up I spent a lot of time outdoors, so environmental sustainability is very important in my mind. Since I was 2 months old I have spent my summers at a summer camp near Hackensack MN. In that place I feel like I’m home, with friends that feel like family and in a beautiful place, there’s nothing better. My favorite thing to do is to sleep on the dock, and star gaze. Up there there’s absolutely no light pollution so the stars are incredible and they reflect on the lake making it feel like you’re floating through space. Just imagining the nights I’ve spent there with friends drifting in and out of dreams makes me so happy.
A year and a half ago everything I believed in and stood for was solidified in a semester I was so fortunate to spend at Conserve School in Land O Lakes WI, there also I found a home in the white pine forests and lakes. The 4 months I spent there were arguably the best I’ve ever spent in my life and to this day I have dreams about walking through the forests I called home there, a place where I could just walk right into the wild.
When I came back to the cities for the rest of my sophomore year I was shocked about what to do next, when I became involved with YEA!MN and I was able to meet other high schoolers that had similar passions. This is when I realized that I could do something. While in the streets in New York City this past fall for the People’s Climate March with 400,000 other people I understood what it is to be part of a movement and ever since I have been filled with a feeling of hope and purpose. In New York I met so many incredible people from all around the US, and there a bond with 400,000 other people was instantly created through a common interest to fight climate change. So today lets look around and meet each other, and be willing to share our personal climate stories, because we are a movement and we are stronger when we are together.
Originally Published on the Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy blog as a part of their Climate Stories series. Since the publishing of this Espoir has graduated high school from Great River School, has embarked on a Gap Year, and will be attending Dickinson College in the fall of 2017.
