Ecology! Oh, and hello!

I don't know what the fate of this blog is, but I missed it today and since it's been over a year since I've written on it, I have things to say.

Since I last wrote, I have started two research projects, won grant money to conduct said research projects and dropped a geology major in order to focus more closely on zoology. I have moved twice, cut my hair off, had panic attacks, taken up dance and started gardening. Emily, my cat, has gone deaf. J and I are still together, and we are both graduating this year and then starting the grad school application process.

My interests have changed. Not completely, but they have certainly migrated more toward ecology and behavioral ecology and a little bit away from paleontology and geology. I struggled with this for a very long time because it seemed to me a failure; however, some wise person urged me to look at it as a success - a success in finding out what I do and don't want. That being said, I still feel like a person who lacks clear direction, but has mutiple interests and, overall, an interest in being challenged. I don't know how this will work for me when I apply to graduate programs, but I hope that the fact that I would be happy to study many different things isn't a negative thing!

I have given enough presentations and led enough discussions to know that I absolutely want to teach. I love teaching! I'm good at teaching! And this means I need to stay in school. I couldn't be happier about it, despite being slightly burnt out.

I hope to post more. More about my research. More about the courses I'm taking. More about the sweet insect collection I had to put together this semester. More about dance. More about the marathon I'm running in the spring! More about turning 30. More about how hard it is to live with an aging pet. More about applying for grad school.

But now, I need to study for three exams!