Personal Narrative: My Path To Study Ecology

My path to studying ecology was not a straight one. In fact, my undergraduate degree is in German and Philosophy. When I think back now, it took years of academic pursuits, exploration and working a variety of jobs to realize ecology was my true passion. Ecology has always been a part of my life. I have been an avid outdoorsman for as long as I can remember. I grew up hiking the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania and fly-fishing on some amazing streams. While fly-fishing, I was learning some of the nuances of aquatic insect life years before I would study them in college. These hobbies, as I viewed them, sustained me through many monotonous weeks in junior high and high school, and buoyed me during later challenges in college and in my work life. But I never thought that I might be able to turn my hobbies into a career.

I struggled to find a major - I wanted to study everything. German language and culture have always been personally important to me, so I finally decided on a German major with a minor in Philosophy. My grandfather emigrated to the U.S. from Germany. My father and his brothers speak German and travel to Germany regularly to see family. Philosophy was my other love and best fit for my desire to study everything. Early philosophers contemplated things like the natural sciences and modern philosophers thought about how the human mind works. It was a treasure trove of information and something that stimulated my appetite. I studied abroad in Germany and, in anticipation of one day applying for graduate school, I wrote a thesis with the German