i've been known to write a few e-mails in my day asking of strange requests, (I e-mailed nbc telling them to document my road trip from new york to palm springs california to see the miss teen USA pagent, among many other random things) but i think i really have a chance with this one. craigslist ad said they were looking for a host or co-host for a new show about "going green," so i wrote this: (bear with me, it's good)
To whom it may concern, My name is Keith Upton, and I'm a seventeen year old student at Massapequa High School on Long Island. I came across your listing on craigslist about the need of a co-host for a new show dealing with the media's new favorite subject: "going green." I was excited to see this listing because I have always been interested in the environment, and environmental studies is a career I hope to pursue. Even before it was "cool" to preach conservation and introduce eco-friendly products, I always supported smaller companies trying to make a difference. As much as it seems that everyone is really overdoing the whole "going green" thing, I couldn't help but thinking to myself, "Is it really that bad that so many people are finally trying to make a difference in the world and the way they live?" I finally realized that instead of trying to prove to everyone that I was into this whole conservation era before them, that I should instead enjoy the sort or revolution that is occurring. So when I saw the listing for a new show on the Discovery Channel that needed a co-host, I didn't think to myself, "Oh great, another giant corporation trying to make money off of this whole 'going green' situation." Instead I said to myself, "Wow, what a great opportunity to finally spread the idea and reality of conservation to millions of people." With a great knowledge of my surroundings and the environment around me, and my current enrollment in an Advanced Placement Environmental Sciences class , I thought this would be a perfect chance for me to share my love for the habitat in which we all live. However, I was soon disappointed to read that you were looking for applicants between the ages of 21-35 ONLY. What really irked me about that age request is that if children are our future, and "going green" is the future, then what are you doing looking for men and woman who have already probably chosen their field of work, and don't have the point of view that young men and woman my age have? Although I may only be seventeen years old, I have the experience and knowledge that is essential to display just how important it is to be aware of our ecological footprint and the effects we, as individuals, have on our society. This summer I was able to travel to New Zealand to visit my sister who is there studying abroad for college, and this trip enabled me to gain a whole new perspective on life, and how I live. The simple things I learned over the course of this twelve day trip were lessons that could never be taught or researched in a book, and must be personally experienced. New Zealand as a whole has received quite the blunt end of the global warming epidemic, experiencing some of the worst ozone depletion in the world. Their steps towards conservation and "going green" have proved valuable, and I was able to see firsthand what can be accomplished in the United States if enough people are aware of the situation. So many Americans today are surrounded by the phrase "global warming," but not many understand what it really means, and what it takes to make a step in the right direction. That's why I was hoping this show would be able to reach an enormous amount of people, and provide guidelines for living a better, healthier, and "greener" life. Again though, I come to the thought of why you are looking for "older" men and woman to co-host. While it is true that with age comes wisdom and more experience, I would be able to provide a point of view to reach the younger audience and hopefully encourage them that certain steps are necessary to provide the sustainability of our future. Children are easily persuaded by what they see on television, and I firmly believe that if young men and women saw a person my age on TV enjoying what they do and also making a difference in the world, they too would become interested in that field of work. I know this is really a shot in the dark, but I hope I have provided you with valuable information coming from a concerned American teen. I doubt there have been many, if any, other teens inquiring about this job, and I can almost guarantee that none of them have gone to this length to prove how important it is for the youth of America to have a say in the media today. I sincerly appreciate the time you have taken to read my e-mail, and I hope that, if anything, this has opened up your mind to what the youth today can really achieve.