Because of this, I actually started college at a school in New York. However, I quickly realized that the school I chose was not the one for me. So, I changed my path in life and applied to a few different schools, eventually ending up on the complete opposite end of the country at Pepperdine University, which is in Malibu California, just outside of Los Angeles. Moving from Minnesota (in the middle of the country) to New York (at one end of the country) to southern California (on the complete other end of the country) made my first year of college pretty crazy, but I was able to experience new places and see amazing things that I would not otherwise have been able to.
Pepperdine ended up being a perfect fit for me, and I stayed there until I graduated this past spring, in 2019. When I got to college, I had to choose a major, which is a pretty scary thing to do when you’re just eighteen years old and have to decide your future career. Looking back at my time in school, even back to second grade, I knew that I loved history and science, so I knew I’d probably major in one of those subjects. I ended up choosing science because that program at my college was a bit better and I’d have more opportunities for different career choices in the future. At that time, I had no idea what career that would be! I chose to major in biology because I like that kind of science the best, specifically learning how different biological things work, and I also really enjoy animals and the outdoors.
My very first biology class at Pepperdine happened to be an animal biology class taught by a very enthusiastic teacher. I enjoyed that class so much that the next year I took another more advanced class from the same teacher.
