The third and final field camp of my time here in Australia has officially come and gone. Before I get into what we did on this camp I'd first like to reiterate a few points that make these field camps so good in the first place.
1. Learning out of the classroom is always better than learning in the classroom. This is meant in a literal sense and not. Physically getting out of the classroom is always invited because its a break from the regular and a change that helps to facilitate more of an interest in learning anyways. And, in a non-literal sense, breaking from the norm and taking lessons away from the conventional lecture and moving it towards the discussion and thoughts of real world issues is immensely more interesting and more informative in my opinion. Camps, directed by the right instructor, could always do this.
2. To actually witness field exercises and be a part of data retrieval gives you a more practical look on what kind of work you would do if you chose to work research in that field. On that point, I can never see myself being a freshwater ecologist after this week. 3. It gives students the opportunity to hang out and get out of the city and into the wilderness for really cheap, and the easy going nature of the professors gives you a chance to get away on vacation; work during the day and have a good time at night.
So, as previously
mentioned, freshwater ecology is not for me. In retrospect, I think this is because I just grew up liking the ole' Terra Firma a bit more. I grew up in Ontario, not near the ocean (I'm aware ocean is not freshwater but just continue reading and stop being so smart), and although Oakville is on Lake Ontario, my family and I were never really boat or lake people. As with a lot of Canadian children, I was extremely blessed to be able to grow up camping with my family and experiencing nature at a young age through Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and even a short stint with my best friend's Ventures. (On a side note: Cdn children also are lucky enough to play a lot of hockey, if their parents can afford it. When is the government going to step in and make hockey more accessible to kids to ensure both the team building atmosphere lives on as well as our continued dominance in the sport on the world scale?) Scouts Canada, the parent organization of the aforementioned groups, encourages kids to get out and experience nature first hand. On countless camping trips, my affinity for the Canadian forests was birthed, and the most I really thought about freshwater systems was how great freshly caught fish tastes, how fun it is to canoe and kayak on, raging white water rafting and most recently scuba diving would probably be fun too. Actually, the water is great for a lot more things, but the actual ecology of it isn't easily accessible, nor observable. It was really easy to walk through the forests, not so much to sit there and wait for the fish to come out of Valencia forests or something along those lines. So, my interest in freshwater never really blossomed. Therefore, taking samples of vegetation's photosynthetic ability or checking the presence of phyto- and zooplankton really just didn't get my creative juices flowing, and thus I figure I'll never be a freshwater ecologist. Highlights of the week, though;- A new drinking game that involves lighting things on fire, but in a safe and c
ontrolled way.- A karaoke night after a small "concert" put on by the camp director and his daughter - who could really sing (Pictured - a many future biologists taking time off from the wierd world of science)
- And finally, a late midnight dip in the River Murray, with friends, in the same thing I was wearing on my birthday in 1986.
One thing that I did take away from this weekend though, was that I did a good amount of thinking about where this degree is leading me, but not in the conventional way as in "What will I do?" I've decided to stay away from this question for now for
two reasons. Too often, even for the people that are fairly successful in life (not just financially), people want to have some perfect dream job and don't normally get it. I mean, if I could get paid to walk through the forest, read good books and play with dogs all day long (pictured Sarah) I would sign up for that job immediately, but perfect dream jobs just aren't possible. More often than not the really happy people seem to just fall into their work. You can't always control what opportunities are placed in front of you, but you can control what you make out of them. So, if I do have to have a plan, it will be to keep my eyes open to what I can make of myself and the fun I can have along the way. And secondly, and more importantly, I'm really a lot more interested in finding out Who will I be? A good line right now that comes to mind from a movie is “Surely its not what you do, but how you do it.” Think about it, today especially careers change all the time, but investing time in finding out who you are is invaluable as you’ll always be who you are, but maybe not always do what you do.How about we go through a moment of self discovery together? There’s a couple people I can think of in my life that are investing too much of themselves into things that define who they are rather than doing the defining themselves. It’s a tragedy to see, as all of us can work harder to be better people and that really starts with knowing ourselves best, and then knowing the world around us. These aren’t the golden years people, things need to change and anyone that can read this, and even those that can’t, can be a part of that change if they wish to be. And along the way, take time to enjoy life, like this guy (Sam the hockey loving Australian)
