Senior Victoria Allen poses next to a Galapagos giant tortoise. Allen said the experience “opened [her] eyes to the untouched beauty of our planet,” and encouraged her to become more sustainable.

HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Victoria Allen, 12

Nabila Wilson, Photography Editor

“There were hundreds of thousands of marine iguanas just basking on the rocks. It was a new island, so hardened lava covered the ground. There were Galapagos hawks flying above, Galapagos sea lions lounging on the beach and Darwin’s finches everywhere. I took a moment to just stand there a little bit away from my group and take in everything. It was a moment of realization, of like ‘Oh my God.’ This planet is so beautiful, and it’s all going to be destroyed if we don’t do something about it. It really opened my eyes to the untouched beauty of our planet. I already knew about the effects of climate change and all the negative effects that humans were having on the world, but I didn’t understand the true extent to what was at risk until I went to the Galapagos. That experience really made me want to start being more sustainable, working to find out where my food comes from, eliminating single-use plastics and just generally trying to leave the world a better place than I found it.”