Sophia Sylvestri

Anthropology Major with a Concentration in Climate Change and Human Solutions

Sophia grew up in San Diego and graduated high school in 2015 before taking a two-year gap while doing volunteer work abroad in London and being a musical theater coach at her high school. Afterwards, she attended a local community college as a sociology major. She loves musical theater and reading.

Why UC San Diego
UC San Diego has been Sophia’s dream university since high school, partially due to its close proximity to her home, San Marcos, and prestigious undergraduate programs and research opportunities. At the time she applied, the Marine Biology program in particular appealed to her. 
 
Why Anthropology
After enrolling at UC San Diego as a Marine Biology major, Sophia soon realized she was more interested in human’s impact on and interactions with animals and the environment rather than the animals themselves, leading her to declare an Anthropology major. At community college she had found her anthropology courses to be interesting and gave the major a try. She found it provided both a STEM-based and hands-on experience related to her passion: actively improving the community. It involves everything from labs to current events and social dilemmas, she said. Her concentration in Climate Change and Human Solutions has specifically explored humanity’s impact on climate change, and how to remedy environmental concerns. Her major and concentration has allowed her to strengthen her community-orientated attitude and humanitarian perspective on a range of issues, she said.
 
Plans after graduation
Following graduation, Sophia plans on obtaining a master’s degree in Global Policy with a concentration in Environmental Policy from UC San Diego. Career-wise, she would love to implement positive change in the environment, whether it be through a leadership position at a conservation program or another related organization.