8 Millennials Who Are Changing Their World

We all aspire to make the world a better place. As a member of the United States Marine Corps, bettering the world is all in a day’s work. Read the stories of nine young people who, like the Marines, have put service at the center of their lives.

1. The New York teen who traveled 12 hours to take clean water to people in need.

Thinkstock Vladimir Mucibabic

Angelina Sarro, a high school senior from Queens, was affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This year, she paid it forward by helping to organize the donation of clean water to people 12 hours away in West Virginia where a chemical spill left 300,000 residents without tap water for a week.

2. The 20-year-old who's using her illnesses to raise awareness for other sick young people.

Via youtube.com

Brynn Duncan of Greenville, South Carolina, lives with several extremely rare conditions, but instead of letting her illness keep her down, she uses her blog and Instagram account to raise awareness and inform others on the power of positive thinking.

3. This twentysomething who co-founded a new kind of nonprofit to bring medical care to needy patients abroad.

Via vimeo.com

Chase Adam, 27, is co-founder of Watsi, a new kind of startup founded in 2012 in San Francisco that uses the idea behind a crowdfunding platform to provide affordable healthcare to patients around the world.

4. The high school student who is supporting veterans by volunteering at his local VA hospital.

Via pbs.org

Every Wednesday afternoon for the past two years, high-schooler Connor Morgan has volunteered to transport patients and deliver lab specimens at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

5. The twentysomething who gave up a high-paying job to follow his passion for education.

Via youtube.com

Teach for America alum Alejandro Gac-Artigas, 25, gave up his lucrative consulting job and founded Springboard Collaborative in 2011. Based in Philadelphia, Springboard trains parents and teachers to implement a summer reading program to help close the literacy gap among financially disadvantaged students.

6. The 28-year-old marine activist who's trying to change the way we view sharks.

Via youtube.com

Sharks often get a bad rap, but in reality, humans are much more of a threat to sharks than they are to us. Ocean Ramsey, a 28-year-old Hawaiian model and marine activist, is using education to teach people that sharks are more than the ferocious man-eating beasts portrayed on television.

7. This college student who is using her programming skills to fight cancer.

Via ideas.ted.com

At just 19 years, Brittany Wenger of Lakewood Ranch, Florida, won the Google Science Fair in 2012 for her creation of a web-based application to accurately assess tissue samples for signs of breast cancer.

8. This 30-year-old who is providing meals to hungry people around the world by selling bags.

Via youtube.com

After returning from a trip abroad as the U.N. World Food Programme Student Ambassador, Lauren Bush Lauren founded FEED Projects in 2007 to take a leading role in the fight against global hunger.

Like these civilian millennials, the Marines are deeply committed to bettering the world through service.

Courtesy of the Marines

Whether giving back to their communities at home or serving their nation's interest abroad, Marines make a difference.

How can you make a difference?

* Thumbnail image via Thinkstock