Visiting the Rice University Campus

As a rising senior, this summer it was important for me to visit some colleges to get an idea of where i'd most like to attend. My "dream school" is Rice University. There are a million reasons I love Rice, but one of them is simply how gorgeous the campus is. On our tour, our tour guide, a student, told us that there are more trees on campus than they have students in the entire school! To me that was awesome because i'm a total tree hugger, and for a girl looking for a small school, that was the best possible way to become aware of what i call an awesome tree-to-student ratio.
Some pictures of how gorgeous the rice campus is and the surrounding area called rice village:

I took some of these photos and others i got off of the Rice website. I fell in love with how green everything was. It felt so lively and cozy. When i was much younger, i remember driving down Main Street in the back of my mom's minivan, looking at the rows of trees, and feeling tiny and in awe. I loved that, a decade later, i still was captivated by it. There are long running paths around rice that are all under the kind shade of the trees. To me, it's like a paradise. I'm applying early decision to rice to major in Mathematics, or Applied Mathematics. I'll know by December if I'm accepted or not...

YAY RICE AND ALL OF THE TREES

• This relates to environmental science because atmosphere on campus is key to the vibes that you feel on it, in my opinion. At a school where everything is gray and concrete, it doesn't feel like a happy place. Incorporating the environment into our architecture is cool looking, and i think it's the future! I read an article a couple years back about an initiative to turn roofing on human structures into gardens, with grass covering the top of all of the buildings. I thought that was a great idea! but some people think it's visually ugly, or have other complaints about it.

Climbing Mt Galbraith

My brother, Ben Haley, is going into his Junior year at Colorado School of Mines, where he studies Geophysical Engineering. Golden, Colorado is where Mines is located. I LOVE visiting him because of how beautiful it is there. I'm more of a mountain person than a beach person. I wanted to summit a mountain but wasn't ready to do a 14er (the term for a 14000 foot peak mountain), so we decided to hike Mt Galbraith. It took about 45 minutes to drive from his apartment to the base of Mt Galbraith. We brought water, apples, and granola bars. It's important while hiking to stay hydrated and keep on eating to avoid exhaustion.
Here are some of the pictures of me on the mountain:

My brother and I love to goof off and have fun, as you can tell by my poses. I love to laugh -- especially at myself. 

I love hiking because it's fun, and at the end of the day you feel accomplished. It's also a great way to stay fit! 

One strange phenomenon happened to me that i've never experienced before, which was scary. We went down the mountain much faster than we went up it, and as a result of the quick altitude change, my fingers became huge and swollen. As a houstonian, i'm used to being at sea level, so i was completely freaking out. My brother assured me that this happens all the time while hiking, which comforted me. Overall, summiting Mt Galbraith was awesome. Definitely one of the best things i did this summer.

• This relates to environmental science because I needed to be aware of my surroundings in order to be safe. Just as we can hurt plants and animals, the environment can be really dangerous if we aren't aware of ourselves and how we interact with it. You need to respect your own limits with regards to "braving the elements" and being outdoorsy. Getting active outside is fun and safe when done right and responsibly. 

Shenandoah Mountains National Park Visit

This summer I went to visit my best friend Meredith where she lives, Washington D.C. While there we decided it would be fun to do a day trip someone. After some research online we decided on the Shenandoah Mountains. We wanted to drive Skyline Drive, a 100 mile long curvy road through the mountains and national park. Early on it was raining, but it cleared up, revealing some truly awesome views. These are some pictures she and I took:

At the highest point on the mountain, we ate at a cafe. It was interesting how even in the summer, it was chilly up at the top. a thick fog descended as we were driving out, which you saw in a couple of the pictures above. Overall, this was super fun! we didn't see any black bears, which was a bummer, but we had fun seeing how beautiful nature is.

• This relates to environmental science because it reinforced in my mind how important our national parks are. In order to conserve the beauty of America we need to maintain boundaries and respect nature as it is without our meddling. I've camped in national parks before and just really cherish that we even have such parks. Protecting the environment is an important way to show respect to our country and it's heritage.