My name is Kadijah Spence. I was born and raised in Yonkers, NY. My parents and my sister were born and raised in Jamaica. My mother is Jewish and my father is Christian. My sister was raised Christian and I was raised Jewish. I pride myself in my diverse background. One could say that this is where my interest in World Religions and cultural studies began. I am very knowledgeable in science and cultural studies.

As a child my mother would always tell me to carry a book to read anytime we left the house. As a result I love to read and write. I wrote for my high school newspaper and plan to write for Manhattanville’s newspaper. I am majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Creative Writing and Digital Media Production. I was always interested in science. I attended Public School 30 which was 30 minutes away from my house. I walked to school with my mom everyday: rain, snow, sleet or shine.  It was a close community; all the children who lived on my block went to PS 30. I choose to go to Museum Middle School and Riverside High School for the same reason. In middle school, I began my science tract and excelled at it ever since.

I have done some interesting science summer programs. The one that I liked the most was Pace Environmental Summer Program. I learned about growing food organically, identifying plants and animals and visiting Croton Park and a local organic farm. Volunteering at my local Environmental Center, Beczak was a great opportunity to see one career an environmentalist can do. I was camp counselor and a weekly volunteer. I helped maintain the fish and turtle tanks and help with seining.  In seining, a large net with sinkers on one edge and floats on the other hangs vertically in the water and is used to enclose and catch fish when its ends are pulled together or are drawn ashore (Webster definition).

I am currently volunteering at the Pound Ridge Conservancy. I helped to plant the garden and I attend the hikes to learn about the native fauna and flora in Pound Ridge.