KiraMcKesson

Period4Biology
MattLeader
1/23/15

CollegeKnowledgeProduct

Eversincewehavebeenlittle,peoplehavebeenaskinguswhatwewanttobe
whenwegrowup.Atagefivetheyaskedusandkidssaidthingslikesuperhero,
astronaut,andinmycase....marinebiologist.Theyaskedusagainwhenwewereten
andthistimeouranswerswerealittlemorerealistic,likepresident,scientist,andfor
me,itwasstillamarinebiologist.Nowtheyaskusagainourjunioryear,andtheywant
amoreseriousanswer.Nomorewantingtobeprincessesandcowboys,buttryingto
figureoutwhatyoucanbecometohavethebestfuture.Nowtherearesomekidswho
knowrightoffthebatwhattheywanttobe,whichisallfineanddandyforthem,but
whataboutthekidswhodont?Scientistsandresearchershavestudiedthebraintrying
tocomeupwithananswerifhowpeoplelearnindifferentforms.Theseincludelearning
bydoing,byseeing,andbyhearing.Butdoesthebrainreallylearninjustthisoneway?
Theshortanswertothatis,becauseyoucantrainthebraintodevelopskillsthatallowit
tolearnnewthingsinanyway,notjustone.Thereareteststohelpyoufigureoutwhat
yourmostusedlearningstyleisandacareerthatwouldbestfitthat.Butjustbecause
thisiswhatthetestssays,doesnotmeanyouneedtopursueit.Eachpersonhasa

choiceoftheirlifestyleandcareerpath,youjusthavetoknowhowyouwanttoget
there.

WhenIwasfirstaskedwhatIwantedtobewhenIwasyoungerIsaidmarine
biologist.Peoplegavemefunnylooksbecauseforafiveyearoldthatwasquitea
careerchoice,butnonethelessIwasconfidentwithmycareerchoice.Overthenext
coupleofyearswheneveranyoneaskedmewhatIwantedtobe,Ialwayssaidmarine
biologist.Sincemarinebiologyisaverylargefield,Iwouldwanttostudyaquatic
biology.Thisstudies
marinebiology,marineandfreshwaterecology,populationstudies
ofaquaticorganisms,oceanography,andlimnology(thestudyoffreshwaters)
.
There
arealotiflaboratoriesandfieldstudiesthataredonewiththismajor,andtheyare
almostalllocatedwithinmilesifthecampusthemselves.WiththiscareerIwillhavethe
optiontoworkprivatelyorforthegovernment.

ThecollegethatwouldbestallowmetofollowthiscareerwouldbeUCSB.They
haveanextraordinarymarinebiologyresearchteamandwouldhavethebest
opportunitiesformetoexcelinthisfield.Intheirmarinebiologyschooltheyhave
multipledifferentsubcategoriesthatIcouldstudyin,butmymainchoicewouldbe
marinescience.SinceUCSBisinCaliforniaIwouldnothavetotraveloutofstateand
couldstillvisitfamilywithoutmuchtrouble.ItisfarenoughawaysothatIcannothave
anysurprisevisitsthough.Thisschoolhashadmultiplebiologiststhathavestudiedall
aroundtheworldandhavebeenapartofmultipleglobalprojects.Havingtheseas

professorswouldgivemerealworldexperiencetonotonlyenhancemyeducationbut
preparemeforwhatthiscareerholdsforme.Iknowthatthereareothermarinebiology
programsaroundtheworld,butformethisisdefinitelythebestfit.

TheclassesthatIwouldneedtotakeforaquaticbiologywouldactuallystartin
highschool.Thoseclasseswouldinclude,oneyearifbiology,oneyearifphysics,one
yearifchemistryandmathematicsthroughtrigonometry.OnceIwouldgettoUCSBI
wouldneedtotaketheseclassestomakeaquaticbiologymymajorOneyear
sequenceofgeneralchemistrywithlaboratory,oneyearsequenceofgeneralbiology
withlaboratory,twotermsofcalculusandonetermofstatistics,twotermsoforganic
chemistrywithlaboratory,oneyearsequenceofphysicswithlaboratory.This
combinationifclasseswillallowmetofollowmycareerinaquaticbiologyandknowallif
thebasicsbeforemakingitmymajor.

Someskillsthatareneededforthecareerarewritingbeingableto
communicatewithothersthroughyourdataandinformationcollectedfromexperiments,
speakingtoconveyinformationtootherseffectivelysoallpartiescanunderstand,
criticalthinking
Usinglogicandreasoningtoidentifythestrengthsandweaknessesof
alternativesolutions,conclusionsorapproachestoproblems,andscienceusing
methodsandtoolstogettheneededresults.Thesearejustafewofthemanyimportant
skillsthatareneededtobesuccessfulinthisfield.Withthiscareer,italmostbecomea
lifestyleinitselfbecauseyouneedtodedicatesomuchtimetothelab,ortotheboat,or

theotherstudiesthataregoingon.ThiswouldbeokaywithmeforawhileuntilI
decidedtohaveafamilyorsettledown,becausethenIwouldhavetostopdoingthis
career.

Aquaticbiologyitselfoffersmanyperkstostudyingitandpursuingit.Thismajor
hasanimmediatecareerentryandpreparesmeforagraduatestudyinandaround
advancedspecializedfields.Thereareavailablepositionsinbiologicalsurveysand
environmentalimpactstatements.Iwouldbeabletogainemploymentinfisheries,
waterqualitycontrol.Itallowsmetoworkinthefieldandinalabgoingbackandforth
withoutobstacles.ThiswouldbepreferredbecauseIwouldgreatlyenjoydoingboth
andbeingabletobeadaptable.

SofarIhavelearnedthatIabsorbinformationthebestbydoingsomethingand
thenrecordingtheresultsofit.Soalotifmylearningcomesfrommemory.Weuseour
hippocampustostorememoriesandtocalltothemwhenweneedthem.Italsoletsyou
learnnewsurroundingsandwhatishappeningaroundyou.Ithinkthisisimportantto
marinebiologybecauseitletsyoudevelopasurroundingwithamemory.Wehavea
thingcalledproceduralmemorythathappenswhenwedothingsoverandoveragain
untiltheybecomeapartifourbrainpathways.Allifthesethingsareimportantinnot
onlythiscareerbutinallothersaswell.Thebrainisthedrivingpartifourbodiesand
eachoneisalittledifferent,justlikepeoplethemselves.Thiscausesdifferencesinthe

wayourbrainsprocessinformationorhowwelearnbutallbrainscanbetrainedtolook
atthingsorlearntheminadifferentway.Youjusthavetohavethemotivationtodoit.

IknewgoingintothisprojectthatIdidnotknowalotaboutthecollegeprocess
itself.Iknowthatthisprojectwillhelpmewiththatandgivemethebestopportunityto
dothebest.IwantedtolearnmoreabouthowIcanbettermychancestogetintothe
collegethatiwantedtoandtobetterthechancesformetogetthecareerthatIreally
want.Iplanongettingtherewithhardworkanddeterminationtodotheclassesthatwill
helpmegetthere.IwanttomakesurethatIgivemyselfthebestopportunitiestodomy
bestandmakesurethatmyfutureandmylifewillbethethingthatIwantitto.Ihave
alsolearnedthatyoucannotgointothisblindly.Youneedagameplan,somethingthat
willhelpyoutogetthroughthisstressfulandhardperiodinyourlife.Mygameplanisto
taketheSATandtotakeitacoupleiftimestogetthebestpossiblescoresandthen
applytoUCSBandUCSDandacoupleofothermarinebiologyschools,andhopeto
getacceptedintoatleastone.ThenonceIgettotheschoolIwilltakealltheclasses
thatIneedtobeabletohavethebesteducationinmarinebiology.Aftermy4yearsI
hopetobeonthenextboatoutstudyingtheoceanandalloftheamazingcreaturesthat
liveinit.Letsjusthopeitallgoesaccordingtoplan.