A Coquitlam high school student will be at the end of the world to hail the start of 2012.
Selin Jessa of Dr. Charles Best secondary is one of 65 international students taking part in the Students on Ice Antarctic Youth Expedition, which runs from Dec. 27 to Jan. 10.
Jessa learned about the research adventure from Victoria Wee, a Port Moody secondary student who spoke in September at TedxKids@BC about her recent Students on Ice trip to the Arctic. "I thought, 'Why not?' I could do that, too," Jessa said.
After a bit of digging online, Jessa filled out the lengthy application forms and, luckily, was accepted - complete with a $13,000 scholarship. "If I hadn't have gotten that, I doubt I would have been able to attend," she said.
After winning a place, Jessa emailed the two other B.C. girls also heading to the South Pole, gathered lots of warm clothes, and started writing and drawing in her new travel journal. She plans to post her entries on her blog afterwards.
Her journey is this: on Boxing Day, Jessa flew to Toronto then hopped on the very long plane ride to Buenos Aires, Argentina, before transferring to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, where she is to spend four days settling and learning about the area. Before Dec. 31, Jessa, the students and 30 adult scientists, teachers, historians, artists and other leaders are to make the grueling voyage on the 84-passenger cruise ship, the MV Ushuaia, across the Drake Passage, or Mar de Hoces, braving the giant waves that stretch between the southern tip of South America at Cape Horn, Chile, and the South Shetland Islands.
But once at the Antarctic Peninsula, they will disembark during the day to take on a number of activities such as wildlife encounters (including with penguins); visits to research stations; viewing the impacts of climate change; and, of course, hearing lectures and participating in workshops.
Since 2000, more than 1,800 high school students, aged 14 to 19, from nearly 50 countries have joined a Students on Ice expedition in the Arctic or Antarctica; its aim is to educate young people about global issues.
Jessa, who has a passion for environmental justice, believes it will be a trip of a lifetime. "I'm sure it will be great on so many levels for me," she said during an interview in her school's science lab before the Christmas break. "The people who I will meet, the places I will go. It will be so incredible, especially since I've never travelled this far away from home ever."
Next year, Jessa said she plans to share her stories about the southern hemisphere, possibly in classrooms around the Coquitlam school district but, mostly likely, as a speaker of TedxKids@BC, of which she's on the organizing committee.
For more information on Selin Jessa's journey, visit her blog at selinjessa.tumblr.com.
