Dylan Radford, UR My path to the Oceanography Lab

Oceanography made me rethink my major!

     When I was asked what field I chose and what motivates me or inspires me about that field I was very unsure of what to answer. I have very little Environmental Science experience so I was pretty intimidated by that question. After being calmed down by Dr. Woodall I decided to reflect on what led me to this point and what has made me want to be apart of an Oceanography lab. I was a criminology major and was not liking it at all. I was looking at classes to take and saw the oceanography lecture course, so I decided to take it because I surf and have been around the ocean my whole life. I ended up really enjoying the course and was interested every day that I came to class.  This is the only experience that I have had in Environmental Science, but it was enough for me to know that this is something I think I could really make an impact in.

     After the Oceanography lecture course I was pretty lost when it came to what I should take next to find my direction in this field. My Professor told me that the best course to take when you are new to this field is the Oceanography Lab because it will help you find where your interests lie in the world of Environmental Science. Now that I'm am in the lab, I have identified a few things I might be interested in and a few things I know that I am not interested in. I am interested in the preservation and behavior of our environment. This encompasses a mixture of Natural Sciences. One thing that I am not interested in but I know I will need to improve on is graphing my data because its really confusing. I am excited that I joined the lab because I know I will find the field that suits my interests or I might find a field that is completely different from what I was originally going to choose. I am also open to my classmates providing me with information on their field and how it may be something I would be open to explore.