When I was younger all I can remember is my love for polar bears, with their glistening white fur in the icy cold tundra in the blistering Arctic breeze, how they trample through the crystalized, frosted, snowy desert. That is all I could remember, polar bears. I didn’t know at the time how endangered and threatened these animals were, only that I wanted to meet one and give it a big warm hug. From the babies who were learning how to walk to the fully grown adults, I was mesmerized and in love.

I couldn’t leave or get away from polar bears, no matter what I did they were always with me. I would walk into a library full of thousands of books and I had one thing in mind: to learn more about polar bears. So I did I read every book, I read every article, and I looked at every picture. Everyone knew about my newfound love and personality, including my grandpa who got me my first polar bear souvenir got me dark sea blue pajamas with fiery red cuffs on my hands and feet with the perfect pearly and snowy polar bears all over the pajamas wearing little beanies of all different colors.  I went to school in these, slept in them, and could not take them off no matter what I was doing or where I was going. Soon after I had family pictures. I was not allowed to wear the most perfect piece of clothing I owned and I threw a fit. I had to have something with a polar bear on it with me or I just could not function. So, they let me bring a tiny polar bear stuffed animal with a silver key chain, jet black eyes, and pearly white fur, to the middle of the big forest where we are taking our pictures. These pictures are still hung up in my house today with the perfect little bear accompanying me. 

None of that compares to my favorite gift and what made me fall in love even more. My grandparents, again, got me a massive polar bear stuffed animal from Costco. This polar bear was bigger than me at the time by about 2 feet. I slept with this thing everyday, and took him everywhere I could. I was in love, and this love never went away. What this love did transition into however was a love and a want to help not only polar bears but every animal as well. I fell in love with the never ending, pacific blue oceans, with life in which our mind could not imagine and the colors more vibrant than anything a human could make. I loved the ocean and animals and wanted to learn more.

This is when I knew I wanted to do something in the field of Marine Biology. I loved animals, I loved the beach, I loved everything about the ocean. But most of all I want to help these animals, and that's when I knew the perfect job for me: a Marine Biology Veterinarian. From the moment I knew about animals I had a connection with every animal I have seen including the ocean. My love for polar bears transitioned into my love for animals, and my love for everything that has to do with Biology. These animals and the passion towards them kept me going and pushed me to do amazing things in school, so I can learn more about and study them later in life. 

I will always be mesmerized by the way the ocean works and the secrets it will hold with the high spirited life, the sapphire pacific ocean, the vibrant colors and, all the life inside of it and the craziest thing is, that love started 15 years ago, when I first saw a polar bear. That love and fascination blossomed into an obsession with animals and to help them and study and learn more about them.