In the mid-morning of February 22nd of 2000, a little girl was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. She always had a smile on her reddish round face. Full of light, passion, and curiosity. Her afro hair was always hard to manage, so her mother put it under so much heat to keep it at bay. She learned the basic steps for maintaining her little human body thanks to observing her older sister. Once in school, she always asked the teacher if she could help with tidying up the classroom. She was always giving a helping hand to her friends. She kept growing fast while making her way through this harsh society.
She always had this spark and light in her eyes when animals and their surroundings were part of the conversation. She never grew surrounded by them, but she did grow amazed by them. Always looked endlessly through Animal Planet or the NASA page to get a vision of what she could not yet experiment with. Once in elementary school, she always was the one rescuing little birds who failed their fly tryouts or taking baby cats in little boxes to give them a second chance at life. She was always playing with dirt while "helping" her mother in planting flowers. That girl kept growing and growing until she started to wonder how she could be a person whose life could be surrounded by animals and nature. . Her curiosity kept growing and growing, that nature. One day she learned about a “Veterinarian”, which gave her some type of new vision. In middle school, she volunteered at a local shelter, where she bathed and fed all stray dogs and cats while taking her first steps in administrative work. She also helped her community bring a home garden. Also, she participated in planting trees with the 4H Club, learning how to use planting equipment and educating friends on the importance of nature. Then in high school, she volunteered at her local veterinarian. Where she got to see firsthand, their daily work and duties, their patients and clients, which gave her that kind of confirmation that she was looking for.
After that, she entered college, where she got the opportunity to participate in student associations and events. She also found another private vet clinic where under the supervision of the Veterinarian she did some of the duties of a vet tech. Everything was going smoothly until the summer of 2022 when she attended an environmental science internship in which she did not have any experience, but she went either way. There, she saw this new and completely different side of science. Right there, this very secure young woman who always said that she wanted to become a veterinarian, was now lost and full of doubt. She started this fight within herself because she has always known that she wanted to work with animals but she also wanted to work with their environment too. She felt trapped within her thoughts trying to make life-changing decisions that would define her life.
That little girl who grew confidently but then got lost during her walk in life… is me. I am that girl who has always dreamed of being a veterinarian. Also, I am a girl who has a desire to work with the ecological aspect of wildlife. My journey was never linear. And still, I don't know what path under environmental sciences I should follow. I never had any type of mentorship or guidance from someone. All I have is a quick google search and social media to try and see what career paths are in this big world.
One thing I am very sure, you will never be fully ready to select what you want to do with your life... but when you do, be sure that when you make the decision, you are secure, and you love that decision cause that is what is going to define the rest of your life.
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