Caitlin Grey is ACE’s Summer 2011 Intern and is going into her second year at the University of Chicago this Fall.

Sometimes I feel like I can’t do this whole environmentalist thing anymore. I feel tired of my classmates challenging me all the time about what I believe is a moral responsibility, and I feel tired of being hurt by all the apathy and contempt surrounding environmental issues.

Remembering that since I have the knowledge, privilege, and ability to act draws me back into action in these times of doubt, but what really makes me WANT to act is pictures like these of my friends that I have found through the climate movement.

After an awesome 8 weeks as an ACE intern this summer, finding inspiring solidarity and community in my work here, I have been thinking a lot about the mission and power of ACE and why it is important. And I think that ACE’s ability to give students across the nation this feeling of solidarity is its most powerful asset.

As only a rising second year in college at the University of Chicago, high school is not too far back in my memory. I became interested in environmentalism my freshman year in high school when I realized that our high school of 2,000 students had no recycling program whatsoever.

However, I did not consider myself as a true activist until my junior year when I became involved with the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC), a nationwide organization (sort of like a youth Sierra Club) my friend introduced our high school group to. Through connecting with the SSC, I met such inspirational people great friends from across the country that what once felt like a difficult duty turned into a fun and fulfilling part of my life. These are the first times I saw that environmentalism is not just separate individuals taking action on the same issue, but a real movement for change in the way our society operates.

The culture of apathy in high school was a huge challenge to my activism there, and at times it made me feel like I was unusual or sometimes even wrong for caring. Having very few people around me to support my ideas or actions or basic morality definitely tested my beliefs. What made my beliefs withstand the struggle, I think, is the solidarity and hope I found in being part of something bigger than myself.

I believe that ACE gives this priceless gift to high schoolers who maybe felt like I did. I still struggle with this doubt even at college, but I can handle it because I stand with so many amazing people in my beliefs.

The community, leadership skills, confidence and feelings of solidarity that ACE gives to students turn belief into action, and what can be a surprisingly isolated feeling into a community of power. Through this transformation, we can fight a suffocating culture of apathy and build climate heroes that don’t just feel like they must, but that they WANT to do something.