Lauren Pettijohn
Central Coast Region
Chapter 714 – Terra Linda High School
Adviser Susan Gatlin
Lauren Pettijohn is a student at Terra Linda High School in San Rafael, where she is a part of the Marin School for Environmental Leadership. As a part of MSEL she has worked on two semester-long Leadership and Environmental Action Development Projects, one on native plants, and the other project on microbeads/micro plastics in wastewater and personal care products. She has participated in two year-long LEAD projects on food waste/healthy foods in school cafeterias, producing and selling reusable and environmentally-friends beeswax food wraps as plastic alternatives.
Lauren is a member of the Math Club, the Film Club, Dungeons and Dragons Club, and the National Spanish Honor Society. She is a Girl Scout, a certified SCUBA PADI open water diver, a singer, a pianist, and a photographer. As a Climate Reality Project Leader, Lauren was trained by former Vice-President Al Gore. She has volunteered her time at the Singers of Marin Musical Singing Camp, the Marin County Fair, the Marin School for Environmental Leadership, and has been an intern for the ICF Fish and Aquatics Sciences lab. Lauren is a small business owner, with an Etsy shop, designing, marketing, and selling enamel pins. She has worked as a camp counselor and as a senior citizen personal assistant.
Lauren’s CSF adviser, Susan Gatlin, describes her as “…a student that will set her mind on a goal, and meet that goal with unwavering dedication and enthusiasm. Over and over again, Lauren has sought out brilliant experiences which allow her to have experiences which are far beyond the norm for the average high school student. She is relentless in her love of the environment and sees herself as one of our planet’s guardians and contributors to its protection.”
Girl Scout representative, Michelle Lehman, describes Lauren as having “…strong leadership skills, compassion, caring, creativity, ambition, dedication, a commitment to the community and the interest to continue to grow and learn more.”
Lauren begins her personal statement by saying, “Throughout my high school career, I crafted an academic “road map” to achieve success, ensuring that I held myself to my own high expectations of achievement.” To that end, Lauren goes on to describe how she enrolled in rigorous courses, and made volunteering a part of her academic success. She sees, in the next part of her journey, undergraduate and graduate degrees in Marine Biology, including a “…commitment to volunteer in new ways”.
Lauren hopes to attend either UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego, or the University of Oregon.
