As a kid I was always interested in knowing how things worked, and I tended to follow a single line of thought as far as possible.  I have vivid memories of taking apart an old laptop and a camera because I wanted to know how they worked, I wanted to see the bones of the machine and understand how one piece would make another work.  Eventually, after a stint in the hospital where I was told I had a blood mutation that made me throw a clot, this turned to wanting to know why our bodies work the way they do.  I’ve always been interested in the science of things, in knowing little pieces of odd information that might not make any sense, but I enjoy the interesting things.

I’ve always had an appreciation for science, biology in particular, and I’ve had days where all I do is follow one piece of information onto the next.  When I was told I had a Factor V Leiden mutation  I immediately looked it up because I wanted to know more.  Then I continued to follow the information to figure out which gene on which chromosome mutated because it was interesting.  I believe this was the point where my decision to pursue something in the science field came about, though it wasn’t completely cemented until I realized that my dream job would be to work in a lab, hunched over a microscope all day.  This final decision came about after I got a job at my local hospital, which I enjoyed but definitely didn’t want to do long term. 

Another situation where I realized biology called to me was when I was gifted a plant from my mother, and I was able to watch it grow.  I fell in love with the plant after that, and within a short period of time I had a table set up covered in different plant species that I tried very hard to keep alive.  I think I enjoyed working with the plants so much because it let me work with my hands and let me watch something grow from a single stalk into something bigger.  I even managed to propagate small succulents from a single leaf, and I think I checked on the growing plant almost every day.  At this point, I was in love with working on something that could show me my progress, the plants would always look just a bit different every time I watered them, and I enjoyed seeing my progress.  I think this both helped cultivate a love for botany, but also helped to show me that I can be patient and keep at a single task for a good while.

I think the classes I’ve taken in my college career have set me up to succeed, and I don’t think I’ll ever lose my interest in the subject.  I’ve enjoyed every class I’ve taken, and I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to take some classes that turned me away from one idea and towards another.  I think I’m lucky because I’m young enough that I don’t have to reach my end goal tomorrow and I have time to figure it out and throw a few adventures in.

 I don’t quite know where I’m headed yet, but I think being able to work with my hands, improving something on a cellular basis might be perfect.  It might take me a while to get to my end goal, but I have a good idea of the steps I need to take to get there, and I think I’ll enjoy it the whole way.  I do hope that my end goal is as fulfilling as I want it to be, but I also know that I will always enjoy what I’m working on.  Even if it isn’t as wonderful as I want it to be, I believe that it will satisfy the curiosity for knowledge I’ve had since I was a child taking apart broken machines because I wanted to know how they worked piece by piece.  That has never changed, and I doubt it ever will, especially with how quickly science likes to change.  I believe that when I reach my goal, the ever-changing environment will pull me in and keep me steady and along for the ride.