Last night my wife was cleaning out some boxes that we hadn’t looked through in years, and she found a box that was full of a bunch of papers from my high school years, including some sweet hand written letters from friends and my sisters. In this box I found several drafts of the personal statement I submitted to get into UC Berkeley, full of hand written notes (no tracked changes) from my mom and dad. Reading my personal statement made me realize that though I have changed quite a bit since my senior year in high school, my values were very similar. (My writing issues apparently haven’t changed much either – my dad’s notes on one draft say “too many commas” and “too many transition words”.) Here’s one paragraph from a draft of the statement:
Once issue that I have felt strongly about since childhood is ecology. In elementary school, our classes held an annual fund-raiser to buy and preserve several acres of the rain forest. I also participated in my school’s ecology club during eighth and ninth grade. Each year we organized an ecology fair and disseminated information covering issues ranging from vegetarianism to fuel conservation. We also instituted a recycling program, which the school still uses.
Being a longtime environmentalist, I was so excited this week to receive the news that the Sierra Club had endorsed my candidacy for BART Board. The decisions made in the next decade at BART are crucial not just for BART, but also for the Bay Area’s environment for decades to come. I’m just as eager as I was in elementary school to address the environmental challenges we face.
The City of Oakland also faces a myriad of environmental challenges, and next year we will have at least two new city councilmembers to address these issues. The Sierra Club and the Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC) recognize the importance of the open seat races in districts 1 and 3 so they’re holding a forum on Monday featuring nearly all of the candidates running for these seats (a few couldn’t make it). From the Facebook event description:
Please join us on July 9th, 2012 in the Council Chambers at Oakland City Hall to listen to what each candidate in these two races has to say about the most pressing issues facing Oakland and their proposed solutions.
The agenda for the evening:
5pm – Reception
6pm to 7:30pm – City Council District 1 Forum
7:45pm to 9:15pm – City Council District 3 Forum
Our ultimate goal is to support leaders who are conscientious of the environmental wellbeing and are most effective in introducing and advancing policies that support the Sierra Club’s vision for a sustainable and healthy city environment for all its inhabitants!
Please come to listen, engage and (hopefully) come closer to choosing your preferred candidates!
What: Oakland City Council District 1 & 3 Candidates Forum
When: July 9th, 2012
5pm-6pm – Reception
6pm-9:30pm – Forum
Where: The Council Chambers at Oakland City Hall
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA
(entrance/exit of 14th street)
For more information please call 510-910-4733 or email obolotina at presidiomba dot org
Oakland City Council Candidates
District 1:
Dan Kalb, http://www.dankalb.net/
Don Link, http://www.linkforoakland.org/
Craig Brandt
Richard Raya, http://www.rayaforoakland.com/
Amy Lemley, http://www.amylemleyforoakland.com/
Donald L Macleay, http://oaklandgreens.org/don/
District 3:
Sean Sullivan, http://seansullivan.org/
Nyeisha Dewitt, http://www.dewittforoakland.com/
Alex Miller-Cole , http://www.oaklandcitycouncil2012.com/
Damond Eaves, http://damoneaves.com/
Lynette McElhaney, www.lynettemcelhaney.com
Derrick Muhammad, http://www.muhammadforoakland.org/
I hope you’ll join me in attending this forum to learn more about the candidates. (Disclosure: I endorsed Sean Sullivan for District 3, but I have not endorsed and don’t plan to endorse in District 1. I think there are several qualified candidates, and I look forward to voting for three of them on election day.)
Living in the O 
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