During Myles Helminiak's sophomore year, he joined the Environmental Club to pursue his love of nature and his future goals. Myles had always had the goal of learning about hydrology, and joining this club could help him. Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, quality, and management of water on Earth and in its atmosphere.
When he first joined, he helped build bat houses. The bat houses were made because they wanted to help local wildlife. He enjoyed planning and working in a group to make them the best possible. He learned to help the group make a full process in making and selling their bat houses to the public.
Later in the year, he went on a trip to Devils Lake. It cemented his spot in the club because of the views of the lake. He thought to himself, if this is what the club is and does, this is something I want to be a part of.
After the bat houses project that was given to the club, he learned that he wanted to spread environmental advocacy and awareness. He felt a real passion for this club and what it stood for. Myles said, “Environmental Club is something I'm passionate about, and I want to be involved in the decisions that our club makes.”
Since joining, he has helped contribute more to the club, even by going out of his way to expand ideas. During his junior year, he helped make the Barn Swallow houses. These were made to help the species in our area. There wasn’t a big reason as to why; it was just the assignment given to them. Even though these are a very basic type of swallow in Wisconsin, he had to do research and learn how to make the houses the best for them. He says, “learning to make the mud nests as a human was a fun and different experience”. Myles had to think about weather and how the houses would need to be set up for them to be safe from natural weather such as rain, wind, and storms.
During his senior year, he has already helped brainstorm ideas for what the theme and sales will be this year. he said thinking of themes was the hardest part of the club he had to deal with so far. The idea he had was to make a prairie-themed shirt. There were difficulties it came with, such as how hard it would be to execute. It was hard to design, and he was the only one to fully understand his idea. Most of the problems were from the fact that he said it would be hard to put on a shirt. Even through all the struggles, it couldn’t scare him enough to make him quit. He would never want to leave the club. He said, “I have always enjoyed nature, and I want to have a career in natural resources”.
Myles’s plans for the future do correspond with what he's done and learned in this club. The experience and knowledge he has gained from this club will help him pursue a career in Hydrology at UW-Stevens Point, starting next fall. He found his passion for hydrology at the career fair in Eagle Ridge. The speaker at the fair talked about what he did to become a hydrologist and his day-to-day schedule. Myles was most interested in the math and natural resources related to becoming a hydrologist. Myles was inspired by the simulation made to show how the culverts stopped fish from swimming upstream. The model that was shown was made more natural and would work better for the wildlife it affects.
Myles says that with his skills, he could change past wrongs and make society more environmentally conscious. He says that he enjoyed every part of this club and wishes he started sooner. I asked him if he could go back and tell himself something before joining the club, what would he say? Myles answered, “I would tell myself to join this club earlier, because I missed out on some fun events that I could have been part of my freshman year.”