The Reefs By Marcella Morris

She clutched her lab work to her side walking briskly towards school. The snow fell in typical New York flurries and the ground was still icy from last night’s freeze. Careful not to slip, she climbed the steps and crossed the campus towards the science building.

"What am I doing?" she murmured. Sophie’s worse habit was talking to herself in public. "I have been warned."

"You are just a high school kid, Sophie," they warned. "What makes you think you are capable of solving this crucial environmental issue? Stop wasting your time." The professors would not give her laboratory time to complete research nor would they share their expertise with her.

But, she could not stop.

After that snorkeling trip she took with her aunt to the coral reefs, she felt that something had shifted inside her. The snorkeling guide made one fact very clear- these colonies of tiny organisms would not last. In fact, we’