Tobias' Arctic Expedition 2018
Hi... my name is Tobias March and I am a grade 11 student at Pauline Johnson CVI in Brantford, Ontario.
I believe that youth who have the opportunities to broaden their view of the world become lifelong leaders. Right now I have a chance to make my dream of going to learn in the Arctic (Canada's Eastern Arctic & Western Greenland) a reality. I have been accepted to participate in a program called Students on Ice but I only have until June 15th to raise the funds needed to go.
Students on Ice (SOI) is a unique initiative dedicated to taking students from around the world on once in a lifetime educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. The ship-based program takes high school and university students from around the world to the Polar Regions to gain a deeper understanding of this unique and important part of our world and to educate, inspire and empower youth to make a difference on a local and global scale. Students on Ice is the only organization in the world which offers an opportunity for students to be immersed in hands-on
research activities and lectures, taught by Polar experts, scientists, Inuit Elders, artists, musicians, historians, educators, and explorers. You can learn more at www.studentsonice.com
About 120 students participate in this unique experience each year and I am one of them! I am also the only person in Brant County to have been selected.
The Arctic Expedition, which I have been selected for, is a two-week ship-based journey starting in July 2018. My participation in the expedition depends on whether I can raise amount required through scholarships, sponsorship, and donations. Between a small scholarship, money from my parents, odd jobs, and a few private donations I have roughly $7000. I still need over $9000 to cover costs of the trip. This includes transportation to and from the gateway city, two nights in Ottawa, passport, appropriate clothing, the cost of the trip itself (the expedition fee itself is over $13000 including taxes). This all has to be completed by June 15th and I only found out today (May 9th, 2018).
I would like to pursue an environmentally based career where I can make great change in our world. This would be a great first step... a leap. My plan is to come back and blog about my experiences and to do some public speaking about the expedition. Then when I graduate I hope to go to Trent University.
If you are a business, your logo and link will be included on my blog.
Canadian donations over $250 CDN requiring a tax receipt must be made outside of the GoFundMe platform. SOI is a registered Canadian charity. Please email creative@lauriemarch dot ca for more information.
Because I am getting a few donations outside of Go Fund Me, I will add the offline donations in manually at the end of every day. I'm also doing odd jobs (need your lawn cut? dog poop scooped??) and working hard to earn some of this money myself but I also need to concentrate on keeping my grades up.