In second grade I gave up eating seafood because I wanted to be a marine biologist. My logic? I didn’t want to “eat what I worked with” as I studied the ocean. Ten years later and I feel even more enthused about our oceans. For me they are still a wonder; worlds still mostly undiscovered and unknown. Although my life is not necessarily how I pictured it at age seven, there are two things that remain unchanged: I still don’t eat seafood, and I still want to be a woman in STEM.
Looking back on a long string of people and influences that led me to where I am today, I would claim that one of my most pivotal moments occurred in seventh grade. When I was twelve, I visited the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) on a school trip. Over the …show more content…
CIMI is where I learned how to hold a rock crab while rendering it’s vise-like grip harmless (a process which took some trial and error). We followed blue whales and documented fish populations on dive slates. Checking deep sea traps, cataloguing our discoveries, learning something every hour, every day. From that original event, that first visit, I have been inspired to explore underneath the waves, and learned how to scuba dive. I earned a Rescue Diver certification, and hold specialties in Nitrox (enriched air diving) and scientific (eco) diving; I have logged over twenty dives and will train for my Master Diver certification this Summer. Yes I have been shaped by countless influences, and that first visit to Catalina Island Marine Institute cannot be underestimated.
CIMI fueled my desire to study marine biology and to have an impact on the world, but it is only at college that I can truly pursue my …show more content…
I’ve wanted to walk the rich hallways with textbooks in my arms to begin a new chapter of life. College is not only a way to learn more about the person I will become, and the career path I will follow, but a way to make connections and build my future. I know firsthand the opportunities lost without a college degree, as my father’s college education was cut short when he was sent on a mission to South America to fly helicopters for the army. Even though he was a highly skilled pilot who was only a few classes short from graduating, employers saw him as no better than a high school graduate.
Graduating college would be finally fulfilling my father’s dreams, and succeeding where he couldn’t all those years ago. Graduating college would be a way of finding closure for myself, and my father, and would help me build a life for myself.
As desperately as I want to have a college education, there is no way my family will be able to send me away. We can scarcely afford a year’s room and board, let alone four year’s tuition. We don’t come from money, and I’m not ready to be buried alive by student debt. For me, a scholarship can make all the difference in whether or not I can go to college, and make a difference in the world.
Whatever happens to me in the next few years, I hope to never abandon my passion for marine biology and the oceans, and I hope to have a positive impact on the world around
Looking back on a long string of people and influences that led me to where I am today, I would claim that one of my most pivotal moments occurred in seventh grade. When I was twelve, I visited the Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI) on a school trip. Over the …show more content…
CIMI is where I learned how to hold a rock crab while rendering it’s vise-like grip harmless (a process which took some trial and error). We followed blue whales and documented fish populations on dive slates. Checking deep sea traps, cataloguing our discoveries, learning something every hour, every day. From that original event, that first visit, I have been inspired to explore underneath the waves, and learned how to scuba dive. I earned a Rescue Diver certification, and hold specialties in Nitrox (enriched air diving) and scientific (eco) diving; I have logged over twenty dives and will train for my Master Diver certification this Summer. Yes I have been shaped by countless influences, and that first visit to Catalina Island Marine Institute cannot be underestimated.
CIMI fueled my desire to study marine biology and to have an impact on the world, but it is only at college that I can truly pursue my …show more content…
I’ve wanted to walk the rich hallways with textbooks in my arms to begin a new chapter of life. College is not only a way to learn more about the person I will become, and the career path I will follow, but a way to make connections and build my future. I know firsthand the opportunities lost without a college degree, as my father’s college education was cut short when he was sent on a mission to South America to fly helicopters for the army. Even though he was a highly skilled pilot who was only a few classes short from graduating, employers saw him as no better than a high school graduate.
Graduating college would be finally fulfilling my father’s dreams, and succeeding where he couldn’t all those years ago. Graduating college would be a way of finding closure for myself, and my father, and would help me build a life for myself.
As desperately as I want to have a college education, there is no way my family will be able to send me away. We can scarcely afford a year’s room and board, let alone four year’s tuition. We don’t come from money, and I’m not ready to be buried alive by student debt. For me, a scholarship can make all the difference in whether or not I can go to college, and make a difference in the world.
Whatever happens to me in the next few years, I hope to never abandon my passion for marine biology and the oceans, and I hope to have a positive impact on the world around