Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, addressed political leaders from around the globe in her speech known as “How Dare You” last month. She has spiked the climate change movement that is taking the world by storm, leading to other climate change protests not only in the United States, but all over the world.

The movement has come as close to home as Indianapolis, and a climate change protest occurred at the Statehouse late last month. 

Senior Marcella Ventresca, who attended the protest along with fellow senior Kennedy Maye, said, “Me and Kennedy actually talked about it because part of us didn’t want to miss school but we want to help save the world (and) we want to help support something that is bigger than school. It is more important for us to have a safe environment and support all these people than to miss econ notes.”

On the steps of the Statehouse, speakers from other schools and even other states came to learn about what they can do to help save the planet. Ventresca said that it was “open to anybody who wanted to talk.”

Ventresca is also a member of the Girl Up Club, an organization that focuses on women’s empowerment and respect for diverse perspectives, and the club watched the clip of Thunberg’s speech during one of its meetings. Ventresca said, “She is very wise. She’s literally just a superwoman. In her speech, she kind of was saying how she’s ‘one of the lucky ones,’ and she herself has already been affected by climate change, and about how there’s so much more going on, and how it’s so much bigger than us, we need to start changing.”

Other organizations besides Girl Up can help students to get involved in the climate change movement, such as the Green Team/Recycling and Environmental Club. This club can be found on the school website, under the Faith and Service tab on the On Campus page.

With the climate change movement sweeping the nation, Thunberg’s words on the matter are being followed, and, as she stated in her speech, “Change is coming, whether you like it or not.”