Invicta Vlogs
The Choice is Yours ….
In my journey to becoming a Senior Prefect, I had to write a letter as to why I should be considered for the role of Head Girl. When writing the letter, as part of my closing statement, I decided to include a quotation by Eleanor Roosevelt (activist and humanitarian), which I felt best reflected what I wanted my legacy to be. The quote states: ‘One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.’ This is very poignant for me because it made me more conscious of the decisions I have make and it allowed me to consider the consequences of my choices and how it could affect myself and those around me.
Every day, we make numerous choices, consciously and subconsciously. It is estimated that the average adult makes about 35,000 choices per day, with 226.7 choices just on food alone. Although the numbers may seem mind-boggling, this highlights the magnitude of how many decisions we can make each day. With choices, come consequences - whether they are positive or negative. An example of a consequence caused by an amassing of careless choices, is the increase in the catastrophic bushfires in Australia, which destroyed many people’s lives, towns and cities. The bushfires are an annual natural occurrence due to the nature of the climate in Australia. However, global warming has exacerbated the problem. Australia produces more greenhouse gas pollution than 175 other countries. If you include the emissions from their exports, they would be the 5th largest emitter in the world. However, on the 2020 Climate Change Performance Index , Australia was ranked last out of 57 countries on climate change policy (just behind the United States). The choice by the Australian government to fail to respond adequately to the climate escalated the bushfire threat.
We are living in a period where climate change is no longer a theory or a ‘myth’. As unequivocal scientific research has shown, Global sea levels are rising at the rate in the last two decades that is nearly double than that of the last century. Carbon emissions are causing the greenhouse effect and accelerating its natural rates. We have the choice as individuals, whether to continue to contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases or make some lifestyle changes, to help reduce the impact of global warming. A positive choice that has been made to overcome this problem was ‘The Paris Agreement’. At the 2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, nearly every nation committed to actions aimed at shifting away from dirty fossil fuels and towards cleaner, smarter energy options, in order to limit global temperature, rise this century to 2 degrees Celsius — or 1.5 degrees Celsius, if possible. This is a major step in the right direction. Individually, we may not be able to completely change the impact of Global warming but collectively we can strive to do more.
Mrs Derrick set us the challenge at the beginning of the academic year to work together to be Champions of Change. Climate change is not something that we should sit back and watch or complain about, it is something we need to speak out about, call our politicians and world leaders to account, and also look for small actions that we can all make to protect our world. I hope all students at Invicta will use their voice and make choices that will not only benefit us individually, but our global community.
Esther Osibodu
Senior Prefect
