Age 20

Selected as one of 18 global youth ocean representatives for the Our Ocean Conference.

During the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the honorable John Kerry, about my dream.

John Kerry offered profound encouragement, urging me to "sail into the authentic, open sea" so that my resolve and perspective would expand to clearly perceive the world's actual demands for marine development—an exchange that served as the definitive catalyst for my subsequent high-seas expeditions.