template: ### Instruction: Rewrite this English sentence to give a better translation.
  
  ### English: What I knew back then was that if I was even going to try to make a difference, I had to get smart about air pollution first, and so I became a student again.
  ### English rewrite: Even then, I realized that in order to at least try to change the situation for the better, first I would have to understand air pollution, so I became a student again.