Hola, explorers! Have you heard of Zora Neale Hurston? She was incredible, and besides being an explorer, she was a famous American author. She once said that "Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose". I can relate. I have been curious about the way the world worked for as long as I can remember, but I was most fascinated when I could feel and see science in action. After learning about Gregor Mendel’s pea plants in grade school, I went to the backyard and began cross pollinating my own tulips. When we learned that acids like vinegar could break down calcium carbonate, the compound which forms egg shells, I spent at least a week sneaking to the kitchen and experimenting with dissolving the shells on every egg in the house--you should try it sometime!
I’ve said before that when I was growing up, science felt like magic, and it still does. However, understanding the complexity of chemistry, time, and all the other processes that formed our planet is more amazing than magic. I’ve come a long way since the tulips in my backyard! Making a career as a scientist is hard work, and I have had my fair share of failures and setbacks, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
