For my first event in honor of Earth Day, I attended the Portland Earth Day Virtual Rally. The rally was showcased on YouTube through Earth Day PDX 2020 Virtual Rally. This rally was hosted by a few Portland high schoolers: Se'Maj Taper, Daisy Watters, and Yena Perice. During the event, I heard two beautifully written poems by Mia Sedory and Lana Perice. Both of the poems were about climate change and how our planet is being affected. Throughout the event, there were several speeches and conversations on how important public transportation is and how not all classes and racial groups have equal access to it. In fact, many students and Portland residents have started a movement called, Get moving 2020. Get moving 2020 is a project to help shape the transportation system in Portland. The people of this committee are fighting for all people of the ages 18 and under to be eligible to receive a free bus pass regardless of location or education status. I also heard from members of different organizations such as 1000 Friends, Transformation Justice, Oregon Just Transit Allegiance, Sunrise Movement, and the Portland City Council. During this event, it was very interesting to see how different the environment and culture is in San Diego compared to Portland. I also learned a lot about the importance of public transportation. I have always known how bad cars and planes are for the environment but I had never really sat down to think about it. It made me think of all of my friends and I being super eager to get our license and being able to drive. As fun as it may be to drive around in my own car, it is extremely bad for the environment. It is much better to continue carpooling with my aunt and younger cousins. It also made me think about how I can contribute to the well being of the planet such as making fewer grocery store trips or traveling on foot or riding my bike to nearby places. While listening to all of these great speakers about environmental justice and the benefits of public transportation it made me think of when my classmates and I found our global footprint in my biology class. It made me think of my promises that I made to help the wellbeing of the planet. In biology class, we talk a lot about how we can preserve the earth and what we as students can do to make a change. That is something that I can connect with this virtual rally because there were many youth activists advocating for the welling being of our one home and how we can help preserve it. I think it is important for people to learn about climate change and how to preserve earth because many people are not aware of what they are contributing. Essentially, it is hard to say, “I am not going to use a car again,” or “I will no longer eat meat,” to help the planet because many of us have become accustomed to these things. However, we can do smaller things such as recycling, unplugging outlets when they are nott being used, being cautious of where our purchases are coming from, or buying food in bulks to reduce how many trips we are making to the grocery store. Events like this one are important because they are eye opening and make us aware of what is going on around us and what we can do to change that. I attend this event online so obviously, my experience was very different compared to what it would have been like if I attended in person. If I would have attended an Earth Day Rally in person I think I would have been able to connect with a lot more people and would have been much more enganges because many times at these events they have many booths. I am someone who likes to interact with people so I think physically speaking and connecting with others would have engaged me a lot more. However, I did really enjoy this event and I appreciate everyone who was a part of it because even though all of these circumstances we were able to celebrate Earth.