In the Name of Ecology

It stank. In fact, it stank so badly that my fellow classmates seriously considered chucking my precious research out of the lab and back into the ocean where it belonged. But I wouldn’t allow it: that stench, those slimy pieces of rotting bull kelp had become my pride and joy during my summer at Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML) --my child of some sorts for those few and precious weeks. It drove me crazy (up the wall, in fact, as I spent days and nights hoping and praying that the tide wouldn’t sweep it off in its currents, or some cranky bird wouldn’t tear it apart in the hope of a good meal), but I was doing it for the good of Ecology, which made it worth all of my pain and suffering.

It was from this very experience that I decided that I had to study abroad in Costa Rica. I want to smell the rainforest, feel the rainforest (even if it means feeling through mosquito bites), taste the rainforest. Once I am engulfed in this explosion of the senses, I want to begin another research project that I won’t stop talking about for the rest of my life—-just as important to me as beach wrack has become.

I know that it will not be easy. In fact, I am certain that it is going to be hard, harder than anything else that I have encountered. I know that on top of learning about tropical rain forest ecology, I will have to learn how to bridge the language and culture gap, while immersing myself in the hospitality of the Costa Rican people. I know that bridging these gaps is going to take compassion, courage, and patience.

But I also know that the hardest projects are the ones worth pursuing. I am ready to listen and learn about the Costa Rican culture. I am ready to brush up and use my high school Spanish, even if I sound like a five-year old during the process. I am ready to feel that rain forest, ready for this challenge. In the name of Ecology, I am ready to brave it all.