When summer rolls around, most people begin to look forward to lounging at the pool, trips to the lake or the beach, and fireworks on July 4th. But while you’re sipping piña coladas poolside, I’m keeping the schedule of a vampire. Every summer I become nocturnal, meaning my sleeping hours become reversed: I stay up until the early hours of dawn and sleep from sunrise until 3 in the afternoon. It sounds crazy, right? However, if you’re researching sea turtles, it’s a little bit of a must. In most of the U.S. April through October mark loggerhead sea turtle nesting season. Female sea turtles nest at night, and when it comes time for the nests to hatch, well, they also hatch at night.

      The spring of my senior year of high school, my head was in a constant state of analyzing as I tried to pick a college to attend the following fall. On any given day, the thoughts circling through my head looked something like this: One point for University of Georgia for marine biology focused study abroad programs, one point for University of Florida for the Archie Carr Sea Turtle Research Center, one point for University of Virginia for a nearby marine science lab… I had applied to twelve colleges for my undergraduate degree - TWELVE - and had extensive spreadsheets charting the pros and cons of each school. I was one hundred percent decided on what my field of study in college would be - marine biology - however, I was completely undecided on which school would be the best to pursue this degree at. But throughout all of my tallying, analyzing and charting, one school continued to stand out above all others: The University of Florida (UF for short), home of the Florida Gators.

    After witnessing a sea turtle nest excavation at just six years old, where I helped a sea turtle hatchling make its way from the nest to the ocean, I was convinced that I was going to become a marine biologist. I did science fair projects on sea turtle biology, continued to grow my seashell collection, and read every book I could find about the ocean. By the time I reached high school and began looking at colleges, particularly ones that offered marine biology programs, my parents thought it might be a good idea for me to see if I really and truly loved marine biology before I spent the next four years of my life studying it.

​    There is a notion that if you’re truly passionate about something, you’ll discover it at a young age. This saying is usually referenced alongside famous artists, such as Picasso, who could draw before he could talk, and Mozart who began performing music at just six years old. Similarly to Picasso and Mozart, I discovered my passion at a young age, just six years old, but that’s where the similarities end, because my  passion is sea turtle biology and conservation.