Sam Ziegler, 2021-2022 Pepper Scholar

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm from San Diego, California, and I am currently going into my senior year here at the University of Arizona. I'm majoring in environmental science, with an emphasis in leadership sustainability and communications.

Outside of school, I'm also a student worker in the Environmental Science Department. Also, I participate in different clubs on campus and intramural volleyball. My goal, once I graduate next year, is to go on to law school.

I first started learning about environmental science when I took AP Environmental Science my senior year of high school. I really enjoyed that class and it interested me greatly, so I decided to major in environmental science. I figured if I graduate, and continue to become a lawyer, I could do that, and if I decided not too, I always have a great environmental science degree that opens so many doors. It gives me a lot of options on what I can do, and it's something I really enjoy.

Why did you decide on the environmental science major? 

It was important to me to do something that I felt was going to be impactful. Of course, environmental science, has all these different topics you can study, like climate change, population growth, and water scarcity. There are so many important things you can do with this major. It doesn't limit you to one thing. That's something I really enjoy about the environmental science major because I can go into many different directions.

What have been some of you biggest challenges, especially during the pandemic? 

Not necessarily a challenge, but more of an obstacle, was the switch to online classes. I personally like in-person learning so much more. Especially with environmental science classes, where it's always so helpful to learn hands-on. Zoom is not the worst thing in the world, but it's just not the same. I really liked the experience of in-person learning, with my peers, that's just so much more conducive to learning. I think that's something that makes the experience easier.

If you told high school me, we're switching to online learning, I’d like that idea. But when you're going to college and trying to pursue something you enjoy, I think that’s different. There's nothing necessarily wrong with online learning, but it's not what I would ever choose to do as part of my university experience.

How does the Dr. Ian Pepper Scholarship help you reach your goals? 

The Dr. Ian Pepper Scholarship helps me reach my goals in a couple of ways. Going into this next year, it reduces my mental stress and makes things much easier on me. I can focus on my academics and applying to law school, instead of focusing on finances. That is invaluable to me.

Also, law school is going to be another large expense. So, saving the money now, to put forward towards that in the future, is very important. Everything is an expense, so saving the money wherever you can is very helpful to reach my goals.

Words of advice? 

My advice would be to find the right balance in your college experience between your academics and your extracurriculars and your social life. If you are coming to a college like Arizona, it should be more than just academics. It is very easy to just focus on that part. Each of these areas have their own merits and deserve attention, so you need to be able to balance it out so you can have a great college experience.  

When we lost all of last year, I realized that's a year that we're not going to really be able to get back in our college experience. That is certainly a loss that you can't really put a value on, and the experience itself goes by really quickly, so you need to take advantage of it while it's there. Hopefully, nothing like this happens again, but you never know what's going to come up. Take advantage of the experience while you can.