For most of my life, my mind spun in every direction, looking for answers among chaos – I wanted to know everything about life. When I was introduced to Biology, my knowledge of life became more structured. Like the double helix which creates the foundation of all life, studying Biology created a foundation for my love of knowledge.
I have become increasingly passionate about seeking out scientific answers to questions about living organisms. Biology is so vast and unexplored that there are infinite opportunities for discovery, which excites me more than anything. Indeed, my interest in
Biology and experimentation stems from an early curiosity regarding how organisms are able to live. As a child, I once attempted to keep pill bugs as pets by sealing them in a large plastic container. Obviously, they ran out of oxygen and died. I modified the experiment; including a small plant in their enclosure. I was interested to see that the more closely the bugs’ artificial habitat mirrored their natural habitat, the more they thrived. This endeavor introduced me to the idea that each organism is connected. With this in mind, I sought to discover how these organisms create an ecosystem as well as how they function as individuals. My interest in Biology evolved into a passion and I began to look for opportunities around me in order to immerse myself in this fascinating world.
Throughout my adolescence, my passion steadily grew to such a degree to where
I sought active involvement in a service learning program called Global Leadership Adventures. The summer before my junior year of high school, I went to the Galapagos Islands, where I was a teen volunteer in Cerro Mesa, a National Park, working to restore the natural habitat of the plants and animals so that they could continue to grow and reproduce in their ecosystem. We removed non-indigenous species of plants that were detrimental to theIslands’ unique ecosystem and planted species that would restore the natural habitat. We also observed how each species of plants and animals evolved to be completely unique to theirIsland. While volunteering, I developed an understanding of how certain species evolve according to their habitat. My ability to comprehend natural selection, the explanation for evolution, pleased me because it answered one of the many questions I had about life sciences. My passion has been bolstered by this small discovery; exploration created a sense of fulfillment.
Despite my joy from being able to grasp certain aspects of how life works, I am still perturbed by the fact that I have only scratched surface. It is true that I have explored a few intricacies of the world of Biology, and my life has been made richer because of this curiosity. However, because I am a vociferous learner by nature, a minimal knowledge of life itself would not be enough to satiate me. By studying Biology, I hope to understand that which now seems enigmatic and discover every unexplored aspect of life.
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