My name is Sarah Klaben and this is my first semester at Penn State. I am transferring in as a junior from Duquesne University where I played Division I lacrosse for two years. I grew up in Central New York, but recently moved to St. Petersburg, Florida where I work full time for an asset management firm. Working in the finance industry, I am naturally majoring in Finance. This is my first online class and I am looking forward to finishing my degree online as it allows me the freedom to work full time while going to school. While many of my classes have used online learning to supplement the course, taking classes completely online will be a whole new experience for me. I think it is great to have the opportunity to interact with our professors and classmates complete a degree without physically having to attend classes at a university.
Outside of school and work, I volunteer as a middle school lacrosse coach. I love being able to help kids learn and watch them grow as players and teammates. Beyond lacrosse, I enjoy playing beach volleyball and running on the beach. Fitness and nutrition are big interest of mine, so I love to stay active and find activities that keep me on the move.
From this course I hope to learn about what we can do as a society to alleviate coastal hazard risk. I live in an area which would be flooded with just a 1 meter rise in sea level, and work in an area that would be flooded with a 5 meter rise in sea level (Tingle, Alex. Firetree. Web.). Learning to assess the local vulnerability and strategies to protect our area is of great importance to me as I would be devastated to witness such a beautiful area be destroyed by flooding or natural disaster. From a finance standpoint, this issue is of interest to me because a 1-2 meter rise in sea level would cause almost $400 billion in damages in Florida alone (“Florida in 2100.” National Geographic. Web.). While it is common for our generation to believe this may not be our problem and will not happen in our life time, these changes could happen within the next century (not to mention hurricanes and other natural disasters could cause damages to occur sooner). Seeing such great consequences, investing in solutions or preventions to the issue may pay off in the long term. Even for those who do not live in vulnerable areas, people from all over the world will witness the economic consequences of coastal hazards.