Hi everyone! My name is Alyssa Massaro and I am a sophomore at University Park. I grew up in Harrisburg, PA, about an hour and a half from State College. I have never lived anywhere else and have seen very little of our world. I hope to travel after I graduate and experience other cultures. I am studying Elementary Education and hope to become a 3^rd or 4^th grade teacher. I hope that after taking this course, I can bring this knowledge to my future classroom and spark their interests in our world. I am very interested in this course because like most students, I have never been exposed to a geography class. Specifically, I am interested to learn more about sustainability and how we impact the environment.

I think a topic that is very relevant today is climate change. This issue continues to gain more media coverage and more people are aware of the road ahead of us. While there are some people out there who believe we are in immediate danger, I believe we have some time to change our way of life. In the “Human – Environment Interactions” section of Module 1, I really liked how it was mentioned that our decision-making in terms of sustainability of the environment should incorporate our “human needs at the expense of non-human needs”. I think many times people forget that we have become accustomed to this way of life and getting people to change how they live may be very difficult. If we can help people understand what is needed to survive and what is not, I think we may be one step closer to decreasing the effects of climate change.