Marine Biology Personal Statement

I moved to Oahu in August fully confident that studying marine biology on an island was the perfect decision for me. During my first week here, a friend from my hometown who also moved here for university invited me to join his family on their boat for a day. He told me there was a possibility of seeing sea animals and as any good marine bio major, I was sold. We docked on a sandbar in Kaneohe Bay and I instantly jumped into the water. After about 30 minutes of swimming around and tossing a football back and forth with the occasional drink break back on the boat, my friend shouted that he could see a turtle. I was ecstatic as I had never seen one in person before so I grabbed my phone and dove in the water to swim towards it, ensuring that

For some, this calling is found early in life, while for others, it may take years of exploration and self-discovery to find their true passion. In my case, it was the latter. I would become set on a career path, do research on said career, fall in love with the possibilities, find something wrong with it, and then start the cycle all over again. I started with marine biology in elementary school, then my parents put the idea of being a lawyer in my head which was short lived as I wanted to help animals by becoming a veterinarian which stuck; until I ended up circling back to marine biology but now with a focus on sustainability. From a young age, I have been fascinated by the ocean and all its wonders. I dragged my parents weekend after weekend to the beach to spend countless hours exploring tide pools and observing sea creatures living within them. Everytime I went home and searched up what I had seen and learned about the intricate ecosystems that exist underwater. As I grew older, my passion for the ocean only grew stronger, and I knew that one day I was going to dedicate my life to studying and preserving its delicate balance. I learned about the importance of marine conservation and the effects of human activity on the ocean and I developed a deep appreciation for the ocean and its

From an outsider's perspective, Willow Glen High School looked alright; it had a fresh coat of beige paint and the buildings were lined with relatively well kept bushes. Despite this clean outward appearance, the bathrooms wreaked of weed, the AC in the classrooms were always on full blast no matter the temperature outside, frigid or otherwise, and the somehow always sticky floor tiles that kept your shoe stuck to the ground for a slightly uncomfortable amount of time. The amount of love that I have for a place such as this is baffling. I spent a significant amount of time crying about how much I hated being there but this place had given me more than I had ever realized at the time. While at Willow Glen I rediscovered my passion for science because of the class that my AP biology teacher taught; he helped me develop a love for learning. Every class started with what he called a “cool critter” and during these mini lectures, he showed me that learning can and should be fun. I started taking his class when college application season had just started and he encouraged me to look into majoring in biology or another similar field. He helped me look into different options that would work for my future career goals and he is the one who helped me decide upon marine biology here at University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Not to mention he wrote my letter of recommendation. I am eternally