Me and Marine Biology

Let’s hear it for invertebrates

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

I am not a scientific person.

However, in fifth grade I got an end of year award as the student most likely to succeed in science.

Then I proceeded to all but forget about that as I went on to pursue ballet, art, writing, journalism, liberal arts, and special education.

But if I were to have or ever become a scientist it would be as a marine biologist. It all started with a science teacher whose name escapes me but his passionate spirit of inquiry lodged somewhere deep inside my psyche.

We lived in Lompoc, California on the central coast — an area known for rolling hills, heavy fog, and fields of flowers grown for their seeds, along with vineyards, and wineries. Not to mention the Danish village of Solvang, home of Pea Soup Anderson’s. Maybe this is where the connection between fog and pea soup get its start.

Our teacher took us to the beach where we scooped up the ocean with mason jars and carried them back to our lab — ex military issue barracks cum classrooms. Rudimentary architecture, high class scholarship — thanks to our microscopes.